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The number of new cases, positivity rate and hospital occupancy all dropped on this week’s COVID-19 community transmission and severity scorecard.
The Shawnee County Health Department’s COVID-19 scorecard issued Wednesday showed improvement for another week, but doctors are urging people to remain cautious, especially during the holidays.
The county reported 689 cases between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19, which was down from the 793 cases reported on the previous scorecard before.
“That number must come down to fewer than 175 cases for the outbreak to be considered under control,” the scorecard update said.
The county’s positivity rate also dropped to 11.1%, which is almost half of the all-time high 20% positivity rate the county reached two weeks ago. Health officials said that decrease could be due to expanded testing of asymptomatic people at the free testing sites in Topeka.
Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector
photo by: Screen capture by Kansas Reflector
Wichita restaurateur and community leader Jon Rolph is leading weekly calls with regional health care leaders and reporting back to the State Finance Council.
TOPEKA Feedback from medical care providers through a new regional reporting system provides insight into the severity of stress the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on hospitals across the state.
In Abilene, a chief nurse reported this week there were two patients on CPAP machines, which regulate air pressure ventilation, but the staff had never used the machines before.
In Hiawatha, a cardiac patient waited seven hours for a room while staff worked to keep the person alive without the tools they needed.