Staff Report
Jan. 7 COVID-19 update from the health department
One more Douglas County resident has died from COVID-19, according to the health department’s update on Thursday.
The new death, which brings the total to 36, was a man in the 65 to 74 age range who had been hospitalized at the time of death, George Diepenbrock, spokesperson for Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, said.
Previously, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health announced that 35 people one resident between the ages of 45 and 54, nine residents between the ages of 65 and 74, nine residents between the ages of 75 and 84, and 16 residents age 85 or older had died from COVID-19 or with the virus as a contributing factor in their deaths.
Staff Report
Jan. 6 COVID-19 update from the health department
Douglas County reported 6,887 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, an increase of 100 cases since Tuesday.
In Douglas County, 5,937 out of the 6,887 cases are inactive or beyond the infectious period, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, meaning 950 cases are active.
The county has averaged about 49 new cases per day over the last 14 days, according to a 14-day moving average graph updated weekdays by the health department. The current average of 49.43 new cases per day is down from a recent high of 77 cases per day in mid-November and up from a recent low of 17 cases per day in mid-October.
Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on May 3, 2016.
Though the total number of COVID-19 cases among City of Lawrence employees since the beginning of the pandemic nearly doubled in the past month, the increase is not due to transmission of the virus in the workplace.
The city’s monthly update regarding cases indicates a cumulative 87 cases among full-time and part-time city staff since the pandemic began, including 10 active cases. There had been 47 cases total in the city’s December update, meaning 40 cases, or about 46% of all cases since the pandemic began, occurred in the past month. However, the increase is not due to spread among city workers, meaning there are no outbreaks associated with any city departments or buildings.
Pioneer Ridge Health and Rehab resident Janet Rusk receives a COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 29, 2020.
Staff members and residents at Pioneer Ridge Health & Rehab were given the option to receive a COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, according to the skilled nursing facility.
Walgreens administered the Pfizer vaccine at Pioneer Ridge Health & Rehab, 4851 Harvard Road, to staff and residents of the facility’s skilled nursing and rapid recovery units, a news release from the organization said.
“We feel so fortunate to be offering the vaccine to our residents and staff,” Ann Bell, Pioneer Ridge Health & Rehab administrator, said in the release. “We cannot thank Walgreens and the CDC enough for prioritizing our community and senior living communities across the country.”
Story updated at 5:24 p.m. Monday:
Two weeks ago, some health leaders in Douglas County were disappointed by a local health center’s decision not to transfer its COVID-19 vaccine doses to Lawrence’s hospital for distribution.
Now that organization, Heartland Community Health Center, has completed its distribution of 1,000 doses of the vaccine. Meanwhile, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health, which intended to transfer its 300 doses to the hospital, has not yet received state approval for that transfer and will instead finish distributing the vaccine itself.
Local leaders had deemed LMH Health the intended distribution site for Phase 1A of the vaccination process in Douglas County. When Heartland Community Health Center declined to transfer its doses to the hospital, a local health leader called it a “wrinkle” in the vaccine distribution process.