TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Coronavirus cases are increasing faster in Kansas’ four most populous counties than they are in the state as a whole, accounting Monday for the majority of new cases reported since last week.
The state Department of Health and Environment said that Kansas has had 10,650 coronavirus cases since the pandemic arrived in early March, up 257 or 2.5% since Friday. The number of COVID-19-related deaths rose by four to 236 total since early March, the department said.
The number of cases is growing faster in the state’s portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area, the first hot spot for the state and where the first novel coronavirus cases were confirmed.
The state said Wyandotte County had 52 new cases since Friday, an increase of 3.4%, to make the total 1,560. Neighboring Johnson County saw another 38 cases since Friday, to bring its total to 977 for an increase of 4%.
Sedgwick County, home to the state’s largest city of Wichita, saw a 5.8% jump in cases, up 36 to 660. Shawnee County, home to the state capital of Topeka, had 15 more cases since Friday, an increase of 4.1% to 384 total.
Those four most-populous counties had 55% of the new cases since Friday.