These Johnson County ZIP codes have the most coronavirus cases, new data show
Johnson County totaled 332 positive cases of the new coronavirus on Wednesday morning, adding 15 cases and three deaths.
In total, 19 people have died from COVID-19 in the Kansas county.
The majority of Johnson County’s positive cases are focused at the center of the county in three ZIP codes that encompass parts of Olathe, Overland Park and Lenexa, according to local government data. ZIP code 66061 has 37 cases while 66062 and 66213 each have 35.
ZIP codes 66215 and 66212 both have 21 confirmed cases. The rest of the ZIP codes have fewer than 20 confirmed cases.
The ZIP code breakdown is included in new data released by county officials this week that helps better make sense of the numbers coming out of Kansas’ most populous county and reveals more about those afflicted.
Earlier this month, county officials said a majority of deaths due to coronavirus in Johnson County have been reported at three long-term care facilities.
County spokeswoman Barbara Mitchell said at least seven deaths and 33 cases have been reported at Lakeview Village, Homestead of Olathe Memory Care and Forest Creek Memory Care.
Homestead of Olathe is in the 66062 ZIP code, and Forest Creek is in the 66213 ZIP code, which may help explain why those areas have higher numbers.
As of Wednesday morning, 10% of the 3,244 test administered across the county yielded a positive diagnosis. Officials said 2,912 tests came back negative.
Across the county, approximately 56% of those diagnosed are female; 44% are male.
Most of those who have died of complications related to COVID-19 were at least 80 years old, according to the data. Of the 19 deaths, three were in their 70s, one was in their 60s and one was in their 40s.
While older diagnosed individuals have been dying from coronavirus at the highest rate, the largest number of positive cases have been among residents in their 50s, followed by those in their 40s and 60s.
Four people under the age of 20 have tested positive for COVID-19 and 30 individuals in their 20s have also been diagnosed.
In a video posted Tuesday by the county, Elizabeth Holzschuh, an epidemiologist with the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment, said now that the stay-at-home order has been in place for about three weeks, she expects the number of hospitalizations and deaths to peak sometime in the next two weeks.
“All of this is really important because we know that the stay at home order has been challenging, we know that it’s hurt our economy,” Holzschuch said about the newly-released data. “What we really want to do is make decisions based on data and what we’re seeing here in Johnson County.”
Nearly 29% of those who tested positive were admitted to the hospital and almost 11% of all positive cases were admitted to an intensive care unit. About half of those diagnosed received outpatient care.
The youngest individual of those admitted to the ICU is in their 30s. The majority of those taken to the ICU are in their 70s.
Demographics
Data across the United States is revealing black residents disproportionately shoulder the COVID-19 caseload.
Johnson County is no exception. A reported 11% of those who tested positive are African American in a county where less than 5% of the community is black, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Two-thirds of those who tested positive were listed as white, and 20% were listed as race unknown.
Seven percent of those who tested positive are Hispanic or Latino. About 8% of Johnson County’s population is Latino.
Of those who tested positive in Johnson County, 66% reported experiencing a cough. More than half also reported a fever. The other most common symptoms, though experienced by fewer than half of those who tested positive, include shortness of breath, fatigue and chills.
Abdominal pain, a runny nose and nausea were the least common symptoms reported, with fewer than 15% of individuals who tested positive having experienced them.
An unspecified number of people also reported a pre-existing conditions, the most common being cardiovascular disease, reported by 18% of those who tested positive. Diabetes and liver disease were each reported by 15% of those who tested positive. Only 2% of those with confirmed cases reported to be smokers.
Johnson County initiated a random community testing program on Friday, inviting randomly selected groups of Johnson County residents to begin going through a drive-thru testing site. The goal to test an additional 2,000 people is part of a $400,000 program expanding community testing in Johnson County.
As of Tuesday, the county had received results for 330 of the random tests. Of those, nine residents, or about 2.7%, tested positive for coronavirus.
Across Kansas, officials reported 1,426 positive cases and 69 deaths related to coronavirus on Tuesday.
Missouri tallied 4,686 cases and 133 deaths Tuesday afternoon. State officials reported about three times as many confirmed cases as Kansas, but have has also tested three times as many people.
Nationwide, there were nearly 601,500 cases and more than 24,400 deaths as of early Tuesday afternoon, according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there were more than 2,006,500 cases and nearly 128,900 deaths.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 12:44 PM.
