photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health

March 29 COVID-19 update from the health department

One more Douglas County resident has died from COVID-19, according to the county health department, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the county to 84.

The new death was a woman in the 45-to-54 age range who had been hospitalized at the time of death, health department spokesperson George Diepenbrock said.

According to the health department’s dashboard, there have been 39 deaths in the 85-plus age range, 24 deaths in the 75-to-84 age range, 14 deaths in the 65-to-74 age range, five deaths in the 55-to-64 age range and two deaths in the 45-to-54 age range.

Douglas County reported 8,902 cases of COVID-19 as of Monday, an increase of 32 cases since Thursday.

In Douglas County, 8,693 out of the 8,902 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 209 cases are active.

The county has averaged about seven 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 7.21 new cases per day is up slightly from a low of just under 7 new cases per day last week and down from a recent high of 71 cases per day in early January.

Douglas County has a 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate of 83.96 per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate of 2.3%. Test positivity rates are 3.6% in Lecompton, 3.1% in Eudora, 2.2% in Lawrence and 1.3% in Baldwin City. Four patients at Lawrence’s hospital had COVID-19 on Monday, the same number as Thursday.

Anyone who has not completed Douglas County’s vaccine interest form may do so online at dgcoks.org/vaccineinterestform. Any residents with questions about COVID-19 or the vaccine interest form may call Douglas County’s help line at 785-864-9000.