TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW) – Dr. Lee Norman, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), held a press briefing Wednesday afternoon from the Topeka Statehouse regarding COVID-19.
During his press briefing, Dr. Norman shared the latest COVID-19 numbers in Kansas — 47,410 confirmed cases and 495 deaths since the pandemic began, and spoke to the two reasons KDHE thinks this information is important for Kansans and overall public health in Kansas: 1. it allows for transparency about COVID-19 clusters around the state, 2. to empower Kansans to assess their own personal risk and making individual decisions based on knowledge about clusters.
Dr. Norman said, beginning Wednesday, KDHE has released the names of active COVID-19 clusters in educational institutions, government agencies, organizations, and businesses which is important for KDHE’s Outbreak Identification Policy and which is also shared on the KDHE website.
Secretary Norman also explained when a cluster is deemed ‘inactive’ — typically when no new cases are reported in 28 days for an existing cluster, it’ll be declared inactive.
Dr .Norman said Sedgwick, Wyandotte, and Johnson counties carried about half of the recorded COVID-19 cases in Kansas.
For the latest COVID-19 numbers in Kansas, click here.
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