photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Nov. 18 COVID-19 update from the health department

Douglas County reported 4,035 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 56 cases since Tuesday.

The county has averaged about 61 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 60.79 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 63 cases per day just days ago and up from a recent low of 18 cases per day in mid-October.

In Douglas County, 3,180 out of the 4,035 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 855 cases are active.

Twenty-nine patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Wednesday, an increase of one patient since Tuesday night. Twenty county residents have died from the virus thus far. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 37,283 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 305.

KDHE also included one cluster of COVID-19 cases in Douglas County in its list that was updated Wednesday. KDHE identified the cluster as Eudora High School and stated that there have been eight cases in the last 14 days. As the Journal-World has reported, the Eudora school district switched to remote learning on Tuesday due to a spike of cases within the district.

The Journal-World reported Tuesday that there will be free opportunities for asymptomatic mass testing in the county. On Wednesday, the health department said that the appointments in Lawrence on Nov. 21 and Nov. 24 and in Baldwin City on Nov. 23 are already booked. There are still available time slots in Eudora on Nov. 22 and Nov. 25 and Lecompton on Nov. 22.

Correction: A previous version of this story included an outdated, duplicated statistic. Twenty county residents have died as a result of COVID-19 so far.