Following is the Saline County Health Department extended COVID-19 update for Friday.
Saline County is seeing data similar to that which is being reported all over the United States. Those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are far less likely to contract the virus, have severe symptoms, or die from COVID-19.
We continue to encourage anyone who is able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and help to protect our community.
During the month of September 645 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported to the Saline County Health Department. Of those cases reported, 547 were unvaccinated, and 98 were vaccinated.
According to the Salina Regional Health Center, 61 people were admitted to the hospital for symptoms related to COVID-19. Of these, 49 patients were unvaccinated and 12 were vaccinated.
This information does not include people who were transported to other hospitals due to bed or staff shortages at Salina Regional Health Center. Typically, juvenile cases of COVID are referred to Children's Mercy in Kansas City, or other children's hospitals.
During the month of September, 13 residents of Saline County lost their lives to COVID-19. In the same month, Salina Regional Health Center reported 16 in-hospital deaths due to COVID-19.
In a hospital setting, the process of determining a person's cause of death is fairly simple. Outside of the hospital, the Saline County Health Officer and County Coroner use all the facts available to determine if a death is due to COVID. The deceased whose deaths are due to accidents or other issues unrelated to COVID are tracked as positive cases for the purpose of contact tracing, but not included in death totals.
The Salina Regional Health Center reports all in-hospital deaths due to COVID, including those of people who lived outside of Saline County at the time of their death. While non-resident deaths are not reflected in the information released from the Saline County Health Department, it is important to note, resources at the hospital are impacted by every patient.
●One additional member of our community has lost their life to COVID-19 since our last update on Wednesday.
●Salina Regional Health Center reports that they have 10 patients currently hospitalized due to COVID-19.
●There have been 46 new cases of COVID-19 reported since Wednesday.
●KDHE has identified 262 variants in the 387 samples sent from Saline County for sequencing.
●The staff at the Saline County Health Department is currently monitoring 438 cases of COVID-19.
More in-depth data and additional information can be found on the Saline County Coronavirus webpage, KDHE COVID-19 Information Site, and CDC COVID-19 Tracker.