Douglas County count of identified COVID-19 cases reaches 26

photo by: Associated Press

A hospital worker waits in a tent at the entrance of a drive-thru testing location for coronavirus at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, Kan., Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Local health officials announced Tuesday that 26 Douglas County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Prior to Tuesday, no new lab-confirmed cases of the disease had been identified in Douglas County residents since Saturday, when the cumulative count of cases increased to 22.

The number of cases believed to have been contracted locally remains at five, while the number of travel-related cases has increased to 18. Three of the four new cases announced Tuesday are still under investigation for type of transmission, the health department said.

The 26 local cases involve two people in their late teens, 10 people in their 20s, seven people in their 30s, three people in their 40s, two people in their 50s, one person in his or her 60s and one person in his or her 70s, according to a release Tuesday afternoon from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health. Of those cases, 15 are men and 11 are women, the health department said.

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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced that, as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, a total of 428 Kansas residents had tested positive for the new coronavirus, including nine deaths as a result of the disease.

A daily update from LMH Health announced that, as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, there was one patient at Lawrence’s hospital with COVID-19 and three who were under investigation for the virus. The patient with the confirmed case was from Leavenworth County, the hospital said.

LMH Health had collected 470 COVID-19 specimens total as of Tuesday, and 21 of those specimens had tested positive for the virus. On Monday alone, LMH Health collected 38 specimens.

More coverage: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

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What to do if you think you may have COVID-19

Patients who have symptoms — difficulty breathing, cough and fever — should stay home, immediately isolate themselves from others and call their health care providers. Patients should never show up unannounced at a medical office or hospital. Instead, they should call ahead to explain their symptoms and give health care workers the ability to minimize the risk to others.

If patients do not have health care providers, they may call the Lawrence Douglas-County health department’s coronavirus line, 785-856-4343.

For updated information on the outbreak, Kansas residents can email COVID-19@ks.gov or call 866-534-3463 (866-KDHEINF), which is staffed 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

More information can be found through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s website or the Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health website.

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