5 p.m. Wednesday update
Riley County health are preparing a local plan to re-open businesses closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but are waiting the governor’s updated orders Thursday before releasing their draft.
Health Department Director Julie Gibbs says that Gov. Laura Kelly’s orders will take precedent and they need to ensure their local re-opening plan is not less strict than the state’s. As a result, they are holding their own tentative plan in case they need to make edits.
Regardless of the specifics, Gibbs says residents should expect some current guidelines and mandated restrictions to remain in place in order for businesses to re-open. Gibbs says provisions such as mask requirements for staff, glass barriers at check-out, social distancing tape and increased sanitation will be likely.
Riley County’s new order is expected to be officially released later this week and will take a step approach to re-opening the economy with guidance from health, safety and business officials. Gibbs also says to expect social distancing guidelines to stay in place for multiple more weeks and that people will likely be encouraged to remain at home except for essential trips during the first phase of re-opening.
The county’s COVID-19 community survey has already gotten close to 3,000 responses according to Public Health Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Andrew Adams. He says the purpose is to gauge the full impact of the pandemic on the local community, noting that there are many citizens who may have been impacted or believe they may have contracted the virus in the past but did not meet the testing threshold.
Adams says the survey will stay open through the end of the week, at which point they will analyze the data and potentially select some respondents to be tested for the virus. Non-Riley County residents who responded will be filtered out of the data.
2:30 p.m. Wednesday update
Riley County has no new cases of the coronavirus today, meaning the total remains at 47.
One more person recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 24 and active cases to 23.
There are 44 pending and 390 negative test results.
Ascension Via Christi Hospital has zero COVID-19 positive patients and two patients who have symptoms and are waiting for test results, otherwise known as Persons Under Investigation.
Kansas has 3,738 positive cases, 515 hospitalizations and 125 deaths.
4:45 p.m. Tuesday update
The Riley County Health Department reported two additional positive cases of coronavirus Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 47.
The new patients are both 23 years old, a man and a woman, whose disease investigations are underway. Both are isolating at their homes.
Ascension Via Christi currently has four patients classified as persons under investigation and had no positive COVID-19 patients in the hospital as of Tuesday afternoon.
Of those 47 Riley County cases, 22 individuals have recovered and there are 25 active positive cases. The health department is awaiting the results of 31 tests. So far 365 patients have tested negative for coronavirus.
Pottawatomie County has had nine total cases with six recoveries now. Three cases remain active. As of about 4 p.m. Tuesday, they had tested 187 individuals so far and are waiting on the results for eight tests.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) reported 163 new cases since Monday, bringing the statewide total to 3,491. There are 504 people who have been hospitalized and 124 deaths have been attributed to the virus in Kansas.
3:45 p.m. Monday update
Riley County health officials noted Monday the number of positive cases of the coronavirus now stands at 45, after two new patients were identified Sunday and Monday.
The latest are both women, aged 35 and 23. Both are recovering in isolation in their homes and are known contacts of other positive patients. According to the Riley County Health Department, 21 people have recovered from the virus and there are currently 24 active cases. There are currently no COVID-19 positive patients being treated at Ascension Via Christi Hospital. Five persons were said to be under investigation Monday afternoon, two of whom were on ventilators.
Health officials announced 19 persons with pending test results and 359 negative tests in Riley County.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Pottawatomie County had nine total positive cases, with 172 people now tested. Geary County’s case count ticked up to 11 on Monday, with six people having recovered.
The total statewide number of positive cases climbed to 3,328 Monday with 496 hospitalized and 120 deaths statewide.
The closest death to the Manhattan area was a Clay County woman in her 70s who died over the weekend according to the Clay County Health Department. Health officials say she contracted the disease from out of state. At least one Clay County contact was identified and remains in quarantine at home until April 28.
Clay County reported four total positive cases as of Monday.
