photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Sept. 30 COVID-19 update from the health department

Three more Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19, according to the health department’s Wednesday update about the virus.

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.

This week’s deaths were three women in the 85-plus age range, health department spokesperson George Diepenbrock said. Diepenbrock said he did not have any information about whether the women had been hospitalized. LMH Health’s Wednesday update did not include any additional inpatient deaths due to COVID-19.

Diepenbrock said the health department offers its condolences to the families and friends of the deceased and said the news “serves as a reminder for everyone of the importance of masking up and practicing social distancing to keep the disease from spreading to those most vulnerable in our community.”

Douglas County reported 2,340 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 31 cases since Tuesday.

The county has averaged about 18 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 18 new cases per day is down from a high of 45 cases per day in late August and up from a recent low of nine cases per day in early August.

In Douglas County, 1,785 out of the 2,340 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health. That means 555 cases are active.

Six patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Wednesday, one more than Tuesday.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s online map noted that 29,861 Douglas County residents had been tested for the disease so far. The county’s testing rate per 1,000 people was 244.2.