photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Nov. 16 COVID-19 update from the health department

Douglas County hit new highs on Monday with the number of COVID-19 inpatients at its local hospital and the average number of new cases per day. The health department also announced Monday that a twentieth Douglas County resident has died from COVID-19.

Previously, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced that 19 people — six residents between the ages of 65 and 74, one resident between the ages of 75 and 84 and 12 residents age 85 or older — had died from COVID-19 or with the virus as a contributing factor in their deaths.

This week’s death was a male in the 75 to 84 age range who had been hospitalized at the time of his death, health department spokesperson George Diepenbrock said. LMH Health, Lawrence’s hospital, reported the death of one of its inpatients over the weekend in its Monday update.

Douglas County’s average number of new cases per day continues to increase. The county has averaged about 57 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph. The current average of 57.43 new cases per day is the highest number the county has seen since the start of the pandemic. It is up from a recent low of 18 cases per day in mid-October.

LMH Health also saw 33 inpatients, its highest number of COVID-19 inpatients to date, on Monday. That is an increase of eight patients since Friday. LMH Health said in its Monday update that critical care bed use in its facility is currently around 79%, but that they will be prepared to house additional critical care patients in their surge space, as needed.

Douglas County reported 3,909 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, an increase of 185 cases since Friday. In Douglas County, 3,074 out of the 3,909 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 835 cases are active.

The county’s COVID-19 test positivity rate was at 13.4%, down from a recent high of 14%.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 36,719 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 300.3.

photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

COVID-19 test positivity rate in Douglas County as of Nov. 16