photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

Feb. 19 COVID-19 update from the health department

Douglas County reported 8,548 cases of COVID-19 as of Friday, an increase of 15 cases since Thursday.

In Douglas County, 8,058 out of the 8,548 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 490 cases are active.

The county has averaged about 17 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 16.57 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 71 cases per day in early January.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 192.87 per 100,000 people. Six patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Friday, the same number as Thursday. To date, 71 Douglas County residents have died from COVID-19.

Anyone who has not completed Douglas County’s vaccine interest form may do so online at dgcoks.org/vaccineinterestform. Any residents who do not have internet access or who need help filling out the form may contact the Senior Resource Center at 785-842-0543 and leave a message. Staff will return calls during business hours in the order calls are received.

At the University of Kansas, there is a 1.94% COVID-19 positivity rate among faculty, staff and students for the most recent seven-day period for which data is available. Out of 361 total tests between Feb. 11 and Feb. 17, only seven came back positive.