Data Source

Sedgwick County COVID-19 Trends: Complete Weeks

COVID-19 INDICATOR METRICS

New Deaths

KDHE alerts the SCHD when a person has died from COVID-19. SCHD may also be notified of a death from a hospital or other facility, such as an adult care home. Once the death is confirmed by KDHE or SCHD, the death is added to the next Sedgwick County COVID-19 Metrics in the appropriate week of death.

New COVID-19 Hospital Admissions

New Cases and New Cases per 100,000 SG Residents

New Non-Cluster Cases

New Community Disease Cases and New Community Disease Cases per 100,000 SG Residents

Cases are downloaded from the state case management system, EpiTrax, daily. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) assigns cases based on the patient’s address, and people who live in Sedgwick County are assigned to the Sedgwick County Health Department. During the disease investigation, SCHD classifies COVID-19 cases by how the case was infected, either community or non-community. Community COVID-19 cases are COVID-19 cases that can freely move within the community, whereas non-community COVID-19 case are Sedgwick County residents in long term care facilities or a correctional facility. Community and non-community COVID-19 cases are categorized by test date. The number of the community COVID-19 cases is divided by the population of Sedgwick County, then multiplied by 100,000 to create a community disease case rate. The New Community Disease Cases is one indicator of COVID-19 spread in the general community.

New Tests and New Tests per 100,000 SG Residents

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) assigns cases based on the patient’s address, and people who live in Sedgwick County are assigned to the Sedgwick County Health Department. Negative tests are collected from the past 14 days to the current reporting day. Each week, negative tests are combined with the number of cases (positive tests) to create a new total number of tests for Sedgwick County. The weekly number of tests is divided by the population of Sedgwick County, then multiplied by 100,000 to create a test rate per 100,000. The new test rate per 100,000 is used to normalize numbers, so we can compare test numbers between each week.

Percent Positive and Community Percent Positive

The New Cases Percent Positive is calculated using the number of new cases per week divided by the number of new tests per week. The New Cases Percent Positive shows the percent of positive cases each week in Sedgwick County.

The Community Cases Percent Positive is calculated using the number of new community cases per week divided by the number of new tests per week. The Community Cases Percent Positive shows the percent of positive cases each week in cases that are in the community (not long-term care or correctional facility residents).

Sedgwick County COVID-19 Dashboard: Daily Snapshot

Cases

Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) staff export reported positive tests of COVID-19 (COVID-19 cases) from EpiTrax, Kansas’s electronic case management system. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) assigns cases based on the patient’s address, and people who live in Sedgwick County are assigned to the Sedgwick County Health Department. Cases who are tested at the Sedgwick County Detention Center are also included in Sedgwick County case numbers.

Sedgwick County cases are added to the Sedgwick County dashboard when they are reported to Sedgwick County. The majority of tests reported to SCHD on one day range from the current reporting day to the past 14 days. Additionally, SCHD can receive tests from 20 through 30 days earlier than the current reporting day. The delay in case reporting to SCHD can be due to when KDHE assigns new COVID-19 cases, or if there are delays in laboratory reporting to either SCHD or KDHE.

Deaths

Tests

Negative and positive tests are collected from the state case management system, EpiTrax, daily. KDHE assigns Sedgwick County cases based on the patient’s address. Those who reside in Sedgwick County are assigned to the SCHD. Negative tests are reviewed from the past 14 days, as new tests are reported daily. Testing numbers consist of positive and negative tests.

TESTING TAB

Test Data by Test Date Graph

The Test Data by Test Date Graph uses positive and negative tests collected from the state case management system, EpiTrax. All test results have information about the date the test was performed, and the tests are added to the graph by test date. Since the graph represents test date, the number of positive cases reported each day may not match the graph (test date versus date reported to public health). The majority of tests reported to SCHD on one day range from the current reporting day to the past 14 days. Additionally, SCHD can receive tests from 20 through 30 days earlier than the current reporting day. The delay in case reporting to SCHD can be due to when KDHE assigns new COVID-19 cases, or if there are delays in laboratory reporting to either SCHD or KDHE.

Rolling 14-Day Average

The Rolling 14-Day Average of Positive Percent of All Tests is calculated from the positive and negative tests in the Test Data by Test Date graph. The number of positive tests are divided by the total number of tests (positive + negative) for a single day. An average is created using the past 14 days of these averages.

The rolling 14-day average may fluctuate several percentage points on the most current day of reporting. This can be due to a low number of negative tests and a high number positive tests in relation to the negatives for a select day. This creates a high percent positive for that day, causing the overall 14-day average to increase. This phenomenon can occur when laboratories have not reported many negative tests due to low work on the weekend, laboratory backlog, or lag in KDHE assignment of tests to Sedgwick County. As more data is reported, the negative and positive tests will stabilize and the spike will resolve.

HOSPITALIZATION TAB

The information regarding hospitalizations and ICU beds is provided to the Sedgwick County Manager’s Office from three area hospitals (Wesley Medical Center, Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center, and Ascension Via Christi) weekly. Each hospital reports the total number of COVID-19 patients, number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds, the total number of ICU beds in use, and how many ICU beds are available.

TESTING MAP

The testing map information is collected from the state case management system, EpiTrax, daily. Each negative and positive test has a ZIP Code associated with where the patient lives. These tests are separated into each ZIP Code and a test rate is calculated from the total number of tests (positive + negative) divided by the population of each ZIP Code and multiplied by 10,000. Rates are used to standardize numbers, so testing data can be compared between ZIP Codes with different populations. If the number of total tests is 20 or less the rate is unreliable, and it is not reported.

The testing map also reports the number of cases per ZIP Code. If the number of cases is less than five, the exact case number is not reported for privacy reasons. Several ZIP Codes cross county lines, so the testing map only includes case and testing numbers for Sedgwick County residents.

SUPPLY TAB

The information regarding COVID-19 supplies (personal protective equipment, testing supplies, etc.) is provided by the Sedgwick County Manager’s Office. This information is collected weekly by the Emergency Operations Center with Sedgwick County Emergency Management and the SCHD. These numbers are used to calculate if there are enough supplies for less than 3 weeks, less than 5 weeks, or more than 5 weeks.

CASES TAB

ILLNESS ONSET TAB

Cases are downloaded from the state case management system, EpiTrax, daily. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) assigns cases based on the patient’s address, and people who live in Sedgwick County are assigned to the Sedgwick County Health Department. Health Department Disease Investigators obtain information about when a case’s symptoms started during their case investigation. These cases are then added to the date of illness onset graph. Cases that have not been investigated are not included due to not having information on the date their symptoms started. If a case was not able to be reached or was asymptomatic, the date their sample was collected is used as their date of symptom onset.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Negative and positive tests are downloaded from the state case management system, EpiTrax, daily. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) assigns cases based on the patient’s address, and people who live in Sedgwick County are assigned to the Sedgwick County Health Department. Kansas state regulations require certain data to be reported from laboratory tests, including race, ethnicity, and gender. However, these fields are not always reported. If the demographic is unknown, it is categorized as missing.

The demographics are divided into “confirmed cases,” “all tests,” and “SC Health Testing.” For each option, data on gender, age, race, and ethnicity are available. The rate per 100,000 is also calculated for race. This calculation separates race into “White,” “Black,” and “Other.” Each of these numbers are divided by the population of that race within Sedgwick County and multiplied by 100,000. Rates are used to standardize numbers, so we can compare case numbers between races.

“Confirmed cases” includes all confirmed cases in Sedgwick County residents. “All Tests” are a combination of negative and positive tests. “SC Health Testing” are all tests completed by the Sedgwick County Health Department. These tests are collected in the same manner as all tests (positive + negative) and filtered to only show the results from the Sedgwick County Health Department.

OTHER STATS

COVID-19 Cases by Source of Exposure

Health Department Disease Investigators obtain information about potential exposures (where someone could have been infected) during their case investigation. A close contact of a confirmed case is defined as being within six feet for ten minutes or more of someone who has COVID-19. Travel exposure occurs when a person has traveled and believes they were infected during this time. Likely person-to-person spread is when a person does not know how they were infected with COVID-19. Under investigation means Disease Investigators are still working to determine where the person was exposed.

Total COVID-19 Cluster Cases by Cluster Type

A cluster is defined as two or more non-household cases that are linked to the same location during the same time period. This data is collected from both self-reported clusters and case investigations. Clusters are separated into the established categories of religious institutions, business, correctional facility, and long term care facilities. A cluster remains open for two 14-day incubation periods after the last case has recovered. A case is considered recovered 10 days after symptoms start or 72 hours after symptoms stop, whichever is longer.

COVID-19 Case Rate by Select Counties and Kansas

Data from other counties is collected from the Johnson County COVID-19 dashboard and Wyandotte County COVID-19 dashboard daily. The new total case number for each of these counties, as well as Sedgwick County, is converted into a rate per 100,000. Each of these numbers are divided by the population of the county it belongs to and multiplied by 100,000. Rates are used to standardize numbers, so we can compare case numbers between counties.