Coronavirus in Kansas: Deaths top 1,000, Governor orders flags at half-staff, Wichita hospitals have 96 COVID patients

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The number of Kansas deaths linked to COVID-19 has surpassed 1,000. Governor Laura Kelly released a statement saying that 1,007 Kansans have lost their lives to the illness. That is 31 more deaths since Monday.

She is asking that flags be flown at half-staff throughout the state effective immediately to sundown Friday, Oct. 30.

“It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of 1,007 Kansans who lost their lives to COVID-19,” Governor Laura Kelly said in the statement. “One of the many terrible impacts of this virus has been that families are unable to hold in-person services to mourn the passing of their loved ones. Each one of these Kansans was someone’s child, parent, or grandparent. They were part of a community. Today, I’m directing that flags be lowered to half-staff, so that we may honor and remember them.”

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) says 3,752 more Kansans have tested positive for the coronavirus. That brings the state’s total since the pandemic began to 82,045.

That is the biggest jump we have seen in positive cases, but the KDHE says the jump is partly due to an update to the disease surveillance system, EpiTrax. A process that used to be done manually is now automated. It says that approximately 1,500 cases from today’s update are because of that.

There have been 106 new hospitalizations in Kansas linked to COVID-19 since Monday.

On Wednesday, Sedgwick County reported 129 new cases and two more deaths. The average 14-day rolling positives for tests was at 13.1%.

During the commission meeting, Sedgwick County Manager Tom Stolz reported that Via-Christi was at capacity for COVID patients and Wesley was at about 90%.

According to a Sedgwick County dashboard on October 26, there were 39 COVID patients in the ICU with 90 COVID patients hospitalized. The county said there are 195 ICU beds in use out of 208. The county listed hospitalizations as critical.

Via Christi and Wesley released statements Wednesday saying they had 96 COVID patients in both hospitals.

Every week, we provide city and county leaders with a snapshot of how many patients are receiving care for COVID-19 at our Wichita hospitals. However, this is just a snapshot of a particular moment in time as patient volume in these and other units fluctuates through the day every day of the week. As of noon today, we had 56 patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and despite high volumes hospital wide, had ICU beds available for patients presenting with other conditions.

Last week, we expanded our number of ICU beds dedicated to COVID-19 care. We also will be adding 25 traveling nurses to help provide that care here and our hospitals in Pittsburg and Manhattan. Some have already begun work.

We are committed to providing safe, quality care to all who come to us and to adjusting as we may need to in order to respond to the community’s needs. While we have contingency plans in place if the numbers of patients with COVID-19 needing hospitalization continues to grow, we would much prefer that the community join us in turning the numbers around by wearing a mask any time they are within six feet of someone not a part of their immediate household.

Dr. Sam Antonios, chief clinical officer Ascension Via Christi

Providing exceptional patient care to our community while maintaining a safe work environment for our colleagues are both paramount at Wesley Medical Center. Hospital capacity can fluctuate greatly during respiratory season based on admissions and discharges that may occur any given day. It is important to recognize that our current patient volume reflects both our COVID19 and non-COVID patient populations. We are currently treating 40 patients for COVID-19, which represents only 10% of our overall patient census. All COVID19 patients are cohorted into two dedicated units, which are isolated from other patient care areas to keep patients, visitors, physicians and colleagues safe.

The 40 patients currently being treated represent a significant uptick in hospitalizations from COVID19, and we remain concerned that this increase reflects the public moving away from the recommended precautions needed to control the spread of COVID19 in our community. We encourage everyone to wear masks in public, practice hand hygiene and social distance whenever possible so that we can begin reducing the infection rate across Sedgwick County and ensure that our healthcare resources are not strained more than necessary. We remain prepared and committed to providing exceptional patient care to our community.

Dave Stewart, Wesley director of marketing & pr

A total of 550,988 Kansans have tested negative for the coronavirus. That is up 3,733 since Monday.

The KDHE provides coronavirus updates each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It does not track recoveries.