Eighty-five additional coronavirus cases reported in Kansas, bringing total to 1,790
Eighty-five additional cases of the new coronavirus were reported Saturday in Kansas.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said 1,790 cases have now been identified including 86 deaths.
Of the total cases, 26% have required hospitalization.
Wyandotte County has been the hardest hit area in the state with 412 cases and 35 deaths.
Clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks have been linked to Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation and a mid-March church conference in Kansas City, Kansas.
Statewide, there have been 15,886 negative tests, according to KDHE.
As of Friday, the state ranked 49th in testing its residents.
Gov. Laura Kelly said the state hasn’t received the testing supplies it needs, adding that if “we had them, we’d be using them.” Every state, and some local, governments are competing for the same materials, she said.
Her requests to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for supplies – including testing materials – have effectively gone unfulfilled, she said.
“We don’t have the purchasing clout that we need to be able to outbid all the folks we’re competing with and then we don’t have the urgency to get from FEMA what we need,” said Kelly.
Health officials say that once lockdowns end, widespread testing will be needed to quickly identify infected individuals and their contacts. Without it, cities and states risk triggering fresh waves of cases that could easily spread and lead to surges in hospital use.
“As we look at reopening society, our ability to help with any sort of micro-wave or micro-surge in different communities will be totally dependent, I think, on that,” Steve Stites, chief medical officer of the University of Kansas Health System, said during a virtual news conference.
This story was originally published April 18, 2020 at 2:08 PM.
