TOPEKA, Canada (WIBW) – Shawnee Co. returned to the maximum number of 24 on the Dashboard of the Community transmission COVID-19.
Health officials Shawnee Co. they released the update on Thursday afternoon, saying they are starting to see a post-holiday increase in cases.
It comes a day after the county saw a record number of virus cases reported to the health department at 233.
The incidence trend index – which was in the “low” area as it was last week, was in the “uncontrolled” area in the last report, with new cases up 43% from a week earlier.
Health officials say Shawnee Co. registered 152 newly confirmed cases on Thursday alone. The county has also seen 42 residents die from COVID-related illnesses in the past two weeks.
Shawnee Co. also recorded an increase in the percentage of positive tests, from 9.9% last week to 12.8% this week. The hospital occupancy rate also returned to over 90%.
“We’re very busy with COVID again, we haven’t really given up, we’ve felt like we’re here and we feel like we’re in a bit of a plateau right now,” said Stormont Vail Health CEO Dr. Robert Kenagy at the health department’s virtual press conference.
Health officials say 86 percent of cases in Shawnee Co. they had no known source of infection, dropping from 92 percent a week earlier, but still in the “uncontrolled” area.
Last week ‘s overall score was 18.
Regarding vaccination, the interim health official, Dr. Dennis Cooley, said that the county is working to vaccinate health workers and those in phase one of the vaccination groups.
He said a faster launch of the vaccine is based on things like available space, staff and ensuring that vaccine doses will not be missed.
He said that as more people become eligible, there will be a group effort to make sure everyone gets their dose.
These will be higher numbers that we will deal with, so it will be a type of community-wide action that will allow us to introduce the vaccine into these groups, he said.
Even as availability expands, he said people cannot forget the safety guidelines.
“Even if you’re vaccinated, you still have to use masks, you still have to wash yourself, and you still have to wash your hands and everything we tell you,” he said.
When it comes to entering vaccine administration data, as discussed by health officials, Steve Anderson of the University of Kansas Saint Francis campus said all 20 vaccine administrators on staff are trained to enter data.
Dr. Kenagy said that 100% of vaccine administrators at Stormont Vail are trained in this as well.
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