The City-Cowley County Health Department reported another death in the county related to COVID-19, according to a news release Friday.
Cowley County Public Health Officer Thomas Langer received notification Thursday of the death.
According to the health department, the deceased is an Arkansas City woman in her 70s who became ill in mid-September and required hospitalization in a regional facility.
She died less than one week later due to her illness complications. It is uncertain if she had any pre-existing conditions.
The death is the 9th directly connected to the virus in Cowley County since a national emergency proclamation was issued by the White House on March 13.
It is the sixth death reported by the health department since an elderly Ark City man died on Sept. 19 and the fourth death reported since last Friday.
Since the death occurred in a regional hospital outside of Cowley County the notification to the local heath department was made through normal channels by the State Health Department.
The months of August and September were especially busy as 115 and 114 new cases were discovered during those months respectively, the health department said.
According Friday’s report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 436 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Cowley County since the pandemic began.
The City-Cowley County Health Department said Friday observation of the frequency of new cases in the county indicates minor improvement.
(Table courtesy City-Cowley County Health Department)
During the first seven days of September, 21 new cases were identified. During the same period in October, 16 new cases were found. A baseline for new cases in Cowley County is approximately 2.5 new cases per day or 75 new cases per month.
Contact tracing and disease investigation continues to indicate that the spread of the COVID-19 virus is through person to person close contact in social settings or congregate groups – especially in family units and group home settings, the health department said.
County schools have had cases emerge, but the individuals affected both juvenile and adult have been rapidly identified and isolated.
The school operation during a pandemic protocol has allowed the infected individuals to recover and return as appropriate.
Groups or clusters of infections have been generally minor and linked to specific activities like sports or social activities. To date there have not been widespread large groups (more than 10) people connected to any infections.
