photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

July 31 COVID-19 update from the health department.

Douglas County reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 650, and will be remaining in Phase 3 of its COVID-19 reopening process until further notice, the local health department said Friday in a news release.

The release from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health specified that bars and nightclubs will remain closed for now and people will still be required to wear masks in public.

Of the 650 cases reported in Douglas County, 568 of those cases were inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to the release.

According to the Douglas County Community Scorecard, there were two outbreaks of COVID-19 in Douglas County this past week. An outbreak is defined as two or more cases not from the same household with the same identified source of exposure. The scorecard also notes that 19 cases from this past week were due to community transmission: that is, the cases could not be linked to a known case, an outbreak or travel.

Three patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Friday, two more than Thursday. LMH Health stated in a Friday news release that it has had 30 inpatients with COVID-19 so far this year.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 11,401 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 93.3.