Following is the Saline County COVID-19 update for Friday.
Due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, the Health Department contact tracers are struggling to immediately contact those who are positive.
If you test positive, please let those with whom you've had direct contact know they need to self-quarantine and monitor themselves for symptoms.
●One new death from COVID-19 since Wednesday, two new deaths this week.
●Variants have been identified in the 109 of 233 samples sent for sequencing.
●43 new cases of COVID-19, since Wednesday.
Saline County lost another two members of the community to COVID-19 this week, bringing the death toll in the county to 123.
Salina Regional Health Center reports they currently have 18 patients who require hospitalization for COVID-19. The majority of the patients are between 20 and 60 years old and most are residents of Saline County. The vaccination status of the hospitalized individuals is not available at this time.
There have been 43 new COVID-19 cases identified since our last update on Wednesday, making 135 new cases in the last seven days. The Saline County Health Department staff is actively monitoring 393 cases of COVID-19. There has been a total of 6855 confirmed cases, and at least 6339 people have recovered from COVID-19.
KDHE has identified variants in 109 of the 233 specimens sent from Saline County for sequencing.At least 22,931 people have been vaccinated in Saline County. This accounts for approximately 42.3 percent of the total population and an increase of 1.1 percent over the previous week.
Why are we not getting vaccine breakthrough numbers?
Your Saline County Health Department's goal is to provide the public with the most accurate information, with maximum disclosure, and minimum delay.
Due to the current surge in cases and hospitalizations, some cases have had to be sent to KDHE for investigation and we are unable to provide you with up-to-date and accurate numbers at this time.
Additionally, context is important to paint an accurate picture of what vaccine breakthrough means.
While vaccine breakthrough has been identified in around one percent of positive cases, the vast majority of those cases are mild or asymptomatic. When we look at severity of the virus in vaccine breakthrough cases, we must consider the age, severity of pre-existing conditions, and severity of the virus's symptoms.
We strive to bring you the most accurate and relevant data possible to allow you to make the best decision for yourself and your loved ones.
We hope to resume reporting these numbers soon.