Staff report
photo by: August Rudisell/Special to the Journal-World
Vehicles line up at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, where residents were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, on Friday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Lawrence, Kan.
Douglas County hosted a Phase 2 COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Friday, where 960 residents were scheduled to arrive between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Dan Partridge, director of Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, said Friday afternoon that the clinic was busy that morning, but that some kinks were worked out quickly to make every station work efficiently. Partridge said the check-in station was causing some delays, but that once volunteers found out they only needed to scan participants’ QR codes, things went smoother. Cars drove from the check-in zone into the arena, where there were 10 drive-thru vaccination stations and one walk-up station. Finally, cars proceeded into the pavilion, which served as the observation zone.
Douglas County deaths from COVID-19, as of Jan. 28, 2021.
Douglas County has announced an additional 28 deaths in the community from COVID-19, bringing the total to 64.
“This increase does not reflect nearly 30 deaths overnight in our community,” the health department’s Thursday update read. “In general, the increase is due to delayed reporting from KDHE due to a variety of reasons, including higher than typical numbers to report due to the high number of seasonal deaths this time of year from both winter weather and the recent holiday surge.”
The 64 deaths are distributed among the following age categories: 28 in the 85-plus range, 19 in the 75-to-84 age range, 13 in the 65-to-74 age range, three in the 55-to-64 age range and one in the 45-to-54 age range.
photo by: Mackenzie Clark
Chairs are spaced apart at the Flory Meeting Hall of the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Dec. 18, 2020. Douglas County District Court made plans to hold jury trials at the building beginning in 2021.
Long-delayed jury trials could resume under a recent administrative order in Douglas County District Court, at least for defendants who are in custody.
However, as of Thursday, records from the court and the Douglas County Jail indicated that only two cases scheduled for February jury trials fit that criteria.
Chief Judge James McCabria issued the administrative order Wednesday, stating that any trials scheduled to begin during February for defendants who are not in custody would be continued and removed from the docket.
Douglas County’s health department recommends schools continue to use hybrid or fully in-person learning models as key indicators related to the spread of the
A COVID-19 testing site will open Tuesday in Lawrence for any Douglas County resident in need of a free test. Ruaa Hassaballa shared the news in a Thursday ev