Six-year-old in Kansas becomes state’s youngest person to die from COVID-19
A 6-year-old who died in November was the youngest person to die from COVID-19 in Kansas, the state’s health department announced Friday.
The announcement came after the death certificate was finalized this week, said Kristi Zears, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
In all, 4,101 Kansas residents have died from the virus during the pandemic, with victims ranging in age from 6 to 107. The median age was 81, according to KDHE.
The state has confirmed 281,562 cases since the pandemic began. The monthly positive test rate has recently been on the decline and was reported at 5.7% on Friday.
Though health officials have said vaccines are beginning to have an impact on the number of infections, they worry that new variants could keep the numbers from improving more.
The first Kansas case of the UK variant, which is about 50% more transmissible, was identified Wednesday. Variants from Brazil and South Africa have been located in the U.S., but not in Kansas or Missouri so far.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 2:07 PM.
