Following is the Saline County COVID-19 update for Wednesday.
The Saline County Health Department has one new case of COVID-19 to report today:
•A male in his 30’s associated with a prior positive case, who is isolating at home.
This brings the total number of cases for Saline County to 38. The Health Department is now actively monitoring seven cases. While there have been two deaths in Saline County, all other cases have met the criteria necessary to be considered recovered and have been released from daily monitoring and isolation. According to the Kansas Department of Health & Environment, there are now 11,681 cases and 247 deaths statewide. This information can be found at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
County Health Officer Jason Tiller has announced that unless the situation changes dramatically within the next 24 hours, he will sign a new Local Health Order tomorrow to transition Saline County to Phase Out as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 19. While Phase Out contains no mass gathering limitations, social distancing protocols continue to be recommended. COVID-19 continues to exhibit the potential for increased disease spread.
As a reminder, the 2020 Census is still active. Unfortunately, Kansas has now dropped to 13th nationwide in selfresponse rate. While Saline County is one of the top six counties in the state with a current response rate of 70.8%, we encourage the remaining 29% of Saline County residents to respond. A complete and accurate Census count can help us receive resources to respond to future emergencies such as COVID-19.
Yesterday, the State Finance Council approved a recommendation to release funds received from the CARES Act to counties. While we are still awaiting details on when these funds will be received and how they can be spent, up to $11,026,434 may be coming to Saline County to address local needs related to the current disaster.
We continue to encourage all residents and visitors to take the following measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19:
•Stay home if you’re sick
•Maximize physical distance (6 feet or more) in public settings
•Wash your hands frequently
•Avoid socializing with large groups
•Use masks (cloth face coverings) when in public areas where it is difficult to maintain social distancing
•High-risk individuals should only leave the house for essential needs
•Minimize nonessential travel
•Check-in (via phone/letter/text/email) with friends and family who are isolated
Only follow official sources to obtain information: www.saline.org/coronavirus or www.kdheks.gov.