Following is the Saline County Health Department COVID-19 update for Friday. There will be no update on Monday due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.
The Saline County Health Department has ceased contact tracing for COVID-19 cases. If you test positive for COVID, you should follow the KDHE isolation and quarantine guidance and alert any close contacts that they may have been exposed.
While contact tracing has ended, investigation will continue and isolation letters will be issued by request only. Those who require an isolation letter for work are encouraged to reach out to the health department directly.
Due to the extremely high caseload of residents testing positive for COVID-19, it is taking more than five days for the health department to contact positive cases.
Due to these circumstances, not everyone who tests positive will be contacted by the health department. The priority is now on contacting those who are under 18 or who have requested quarantine letters.
Employers should understand that due to the high caseload, their employees may not receive their letters in a timely manner. Employers should consider using positive test results and the KDHE guidelines to determine return dates for their employees.
The Saline County Health Department is adopting all the KDHE guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation as written.
KDHE quarantine and isolation guidelines
There have been 295 new cases of COVID-19 reported since our last update, and the Saline County Health Department is monitoring 1,845 patients who are currently dealing with issues related to COVID-19.
In total, 11,647 individual cases of COVID-19 have been reported to the Health Department, and at least 9,612 people have recovered after testing positive for the virus.
Salina Regional Health Center reports that 20 patients require hospitalization related to COVID-19.