photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Dec. 30 COVID-19 update from the health department

Two more Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19, according to the health department’s update on Wednesday.

The two new deaths, which bring the total to 34, were two men older than 85 who had both been hospitalized at the time of death, health department spokesperson George Diepenbrock said.

Previously, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced that 32 people — one resident between the ages of 45 and 54, nine residents between the ages of 65 and 74, eight residents between the ages of 75 and 84, and 14 residents age 85 or older — had died from COVID-19 or with the virus as a contributing factor in their deaths.

Douglas County reported 6,428 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 57 cases since Tuesday.

In Douglas County, 5,658 out of the 6,428 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 770 cases are active.

The county has averaged about 45 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 44.79 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 77 cases per day in mid-November and up from a recent low of 17 cases per day in mid-October.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 506.28 per 100,000 people.

Twenty-three patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Wednesday, five fewer than Tuesday.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 49,537 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 405.2.