KU Health reports fewer active COVID-19 patients on Friday

There has been a drop in the number of active COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System, according to a Friday morning media briefing held by the hospital’s medical officials.

Seventy-eight people with the active virus are hospitalized, down from 82 yesterday, Dec. 17. Thirty-five patients are in the ICU, down from 37 yesterday.

Twenty-six of those ICU patients are on ventilators today, up from 24 yesterday. Seventy-one other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, down from 75 yesterday.

There are now a total of 149 patients, down from 157 yesterday.

According to The University of Kansas Health System, the number of COVID-19 deaths at its facilities in December have already surpassed November’s count.

Dr. Wild with KU Health began the briefing with a look at the COVID-19 numbers at the health system since the beginning of the pandemic.

Total number of people admitted is 1727, their average length of stay was just over seven days. The health system has had 130 deaths, with an average age of 67 and the average length of stay for those patients at about 13 days.

Monthly hospital admissions had been fairly steady until a spike in the summer. October admissions were up to 210, but November nearly doubled and December remains high.