photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Sept. 16 COVID-19 update from the health department

Updated at 5:17 Wednesday

An inpatient at Lawrence’s local hospital died from COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to LMH Health’s update about the virus.

Hospital spokesperson Amy Northrop was unable to provide information about the deceased patient due to privacy laws. The patient was not a resident of Douglas County, which is why there was no mention of a new death in the health department’s Wednesday update, said Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health spokesperson George Diepenbrock.

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

Douglas County has reported 1,952 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 17 cases since Tuesday.

The county has averaged about 19 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 19 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 45 cases per day in late August and up from a recent low of about nine cases per day in early August.

In Douglas County, 1,188 out of the 1,952 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health.

Five 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 27,531 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 225.2.