photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Oct. 7 COVID-19 update from the health department

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

Previously, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced that 13 people — three residents between the ages of 65 and 74, one resident between the ages of 75 and 84 and nine 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 65 to 74 age range, health department spokesperson George Diepenbrock said. Diepenbrock said the person had been hospitalized in the region. LMH Health’s Wednesday update did not include any additional inpatient deaths due to COVID-19.

Douglas County reported 2,495 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 19 cases since Tuesday.

The county has averaged about 14 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 14 new cases per day is down from a high of 46 cases per day in early September and up from a recent low of nine cases per day in early August.

In Douglas County, 2,214 out of the 2,495 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health. That means 281 cases are active.

Four patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Wednesday, the same number as Tuesday.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 30,802 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 251.9.