photo by: Lawrence Douglas-County Public Health

The health department's July 29 COVID-19 update

A third Douglas County resident has died from COVID-19, according to the health department’s Wednesday update about the virus.

Last week, Douglas County announced that two people — a male resident in his 70s and a male resident in his 80s — had died from COVID-19 or with the virus as a contributing factor in their deaths. This week’s death was a male resident also in his 80s, health department spokesman George Diepenbrock said. The man was not hospitalized.

“We give our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends,” Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Director Dan Partridge said. “We encourage everyone in our community to continue to take precautions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing because this is a reminder the coronavirus can cause a very serious infection that can lead to death.”

No further information about the most recent death was provided in the health department’s update.

Douglas County reported 630 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 16 cases since 2 p.m. Tuesday.

In Douglas County, 542 out of the 630 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health.

Two patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Wednesday, two fewer than Tuesday.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 11,024 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 90.2.