Following is the Saline County Health Department COVID-19 report for January 2022.
During the month of January, 3,510 cases were reported to the Saline County Health Department; shattering the previous record for monthly cases, which was just over 1,700 in December 2020.
As always, this number does not include those who used at-home or over-the-counter test kits, nor those who did not get tested.
Due to this overwhelming number of cases in our county, only the guardians of those under 18 or who requested a notice for their employer were slated for contact. Many case investigations were deferred to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Caseworkers continue to follow up on those priority cases.
Unfortunately, reliable vaccination data is not available for these cases.
A significant portion of our community suffered at the hands of COVID this month, experiencing physical COVID symptoms as well as social issues like time away from work and other activities.
During the month of January, 11 members of our community lost their lives to COVID-19. Of those, seven were unvaccinated.
For the purposes of this data, "vaccinated" refers to a person who has had at least one vaccination against COVID and may or may not include those who are fully vaccinated or boosted.
While the percent of those who lose their battle with COVID may seem small, the impact of large numbers cannot be ignored. Eleven lives lost is 11 too many.
There will be no hospital report this week. We hope to have this information for you next week. Thank you for your patience.