Harvey County sees 1,000 cases in 35 days, but not the worst in Kansas

COVID-19 cases have now dropped below 100 according to County numbers.

By Adam Strunk

Kansas counties lead the nation in COVID-19 deaths per capita in the last week.

The somber distinction was included in the most recent data release from the White House COVID-19 task force.

Edwards County, two counties west of Harvey, had the largest death toll per 100,000 at 285 deaths per 100,000 residents. The county of just over 3,000 people had eight residents die. A per capita measurement is a uniform way of comparing areas, regardless of population.

Kansas had seven of the top 10 deadliest counties that week, per capita. All of those were rural counties with populations of less than 10,000.

Locally, Harvey County ranked 1,042 in U.S. counties with deaths per capita, out of 3,200 listed counties.

Deaths often are a lagging indicator of infections. The positive bit of info is the report had no Kansas counties cracking the top 25 of most new infections per capita.

In local data, Harvey County added 217 new cases and cracked the 2,000 mark at 2,097 cases. It took a bit under eight months for the county to reach its first 1,000 cases. It took 35 days for the county to amass its second thousand.

Four more county residents died this week, bringing the death toll to 26 people. Fifteen are in the hospital, including eight new hospitalizations.

The amount of active cases increased by one over last week to 276 people. Before that, it had decreased over the prior two weeks from its high of 494.

On the hospital capacity side, regional hospital capacity for intensive care units remains tight in south-central Kansas at 12 percent with 34 beds available. COVID-19 or likely COVID-19 patients in ICUs has dropped slightly to 94. Total COVID or COVID suspected hospitalizations are at 325.

Harvey County Health Department Director Lynette Redington said with holidays and the potential for holiday gatherings approaching, residents need to do what they can to prevent the spread.
“We still have plenty of cases,” she said.
She encouraged residents to celebrate within their household if possible and find unique ways to celebrate with family members not in the same location.

She noted there was a crowd limit of 10 people.

She said if people did celebrate in person, they could at least take precautions.

“If that does happen, get your masks on, keep washing your hands and keep your distance,” she said. “I know it’s really hard over the holiday time to do that. This year, we’re going to have to keep hunkering down and not have those numbers skyrocket.”

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