TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas on Friday reported its worst week-long spike in COVID-19-related deaths since June 1 as the number of reported cases rose past 25,000.
The state Department of Health and Environment said Kansas has had 326 death since the pandemic reached the state in early March, up 18 or 5.8% since Wednesday.
The state has reported an additional 27 deaths over the previous seven days for an average of 3.86 a day. The last time the average for the previous seven days was that high was June 1, when it was 4.14.
The state health department also reported that Kansas had 1,005 new reported coronavirus cases since Wednesday, an increase of 4.2% to bring the total for the pandemic to 25,109. However, the number of cases is thought to be far higher because people can be infected without feeling ill and because of low testing, particularly early in the pandemic.
Health department head and Dr. Lee Norman tweeted, “Wrong direction!”
The state has reported 3,144 new coronavirus cases over the past seven days, an increase of 14.3%. The rolling seven-day average for new cases was 449. That’s lower than it has been in the past two weeks but well above the state’s last peak in May.