If the Kansas COVID-19 experience was like Douglas County’s - what would that mean? That is a question Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Director examined earlier this week as 2020 winds down with Kansas communities experiencing the pandemic.
"If the entire state of Kansas experienced COVID-19 the way Douglas County has, there would be 69,000 fewer cases statewide, 2,000 fewer hospitalizations and 1,700 fewer deaths," Partridge said. "That is just one quantification to illustrate the great job everyone is doing here in Douglas County."
*Note for the number of cases comparison, the comparison was conducted Tuesday, Dec. 22, with the data available on the KDHE website.
| Kansas | Douglas County |
Population | 2,913,314 | 122,259 |
# COVID cases | 204,600 | 5,700 |
Case Rate | 70.24 per 1,000 | 46.62 per 1,000 |
Hospitalizations | 6,267 | 174* |
Hospitalization rate | 2.15 per 1,000 | 1.42 per 1,000 |
Deaths | 2,448 | 31* |
Death rate | 0.84 per 1,000 | 0.25 per 1,000 |
* local data accessed from LDCHealth.org website on 12/22/2020
If Statewide cases mirrored the Douglas County rate, then:
Kansas cases = 135,825, (46.62) (2,913.314) or 68,775 fewer cases, (204,600 - 135,824)
Kansas hospitalizations = 4,146 (1.42) (2,913.314) or 2,121 fewer hospitalizations, (6,267 - 4,146)
Kansas deaths = 739, (0.25) (2,913.314) or 1,709 fewer deaths, (2,448-739)
According to healthcarefinancenews.com the average cost of being hospitalized with COVID ranges from $34,662 to $45,683.
If, we use $40,000 as the average cost of hospitalization then:
Kansas has spent $250,680,000, ($40,000) (6,267)
But at the Douglas County rate would have spent $165,840,000, ($40,000) (4,146)
For a cost savings of $84,840,000
Partridge credited Douglas County residents for their compliance with public health orders, including mask wearing, and the work of LDCPH staff and all Unified Command partners across the community who have worked diligently on the community-wide response, including Douglas County, the City of Lawrence, LMH Health, The Chamber of Lawrence, Lawrence Public Schools, University of Kansas, Douglas County Emergency Management and many other organizations across the county.
"Much work remains ahead of us, and we ask the community to keep it up, but we are grateful for everyone in Douglas County's efforts as we continue to move forward and work to return back to normal," Partridge said.