TOPEKA, Kan. – New coronavirus cases leaped in Kansas in the week ending Sunday, rising 21.6% as 1,634 cases were reported. The previous week had 1,344 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Kansas ranked 45th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week the United States added 472,154 reported cases of coronavirus, a decrease of 3.4% from the week before. Across the country, 21 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Many states did not report cases on Easter. Delayed reporting from the holiday will make some state-to-state comparisons inaccurate, and also some in-state week-to-week comparisons inaccurate.
Within Kansas, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Bourbon, Geary and Cherokee counties. Adding the most new cases overall were Sedgwick County, with 377 cases; Johnson County, with 374 cases; and Wyandotte County, with 137. Weekly case counts rose in 50 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Sedgwick, Shawnee and Saline counties.
Kansas ranked 23rd among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 40.1% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 39.5%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows.
In the week ending Sunday, Kansas reported administering another 176,477 vaccine doses, compared to 192,825 the week before that. In all, Kansas reported it has administered 1,815,877 doses.
Across Kansas, cases fell in 32 counties, with the best declines in Johnson, Jackson and Ford counties.
In Kansas, 14 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, six people were reported dead.
A total of 307,407 people in Kansas have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 4,909 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 31,670,031 people have tested positive and 567,217 people have died.
