Kansas ranks among the top ten in the nation when it comes to the lowest disease spread.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Dr. Lee Norman made this announcement during a news briefing Friday afternoon. For the past several months Dr. Norman has spoken about the R sub naught, or infection rate, of the COVID-19 virus.
He explains the original projection for the disease was believed to be between 2 to 2.5, meaning for every person who had the disease they would infect 2 new people. As time has gone on the number has since increased to around 5.87.
Dr. Norman would go on to state that if an area’s infection rate was projected at below 1.0 then the disease would likely die off at some point. Norman was pleased to announce that data released on Friday shows the current R sub naught of Kansas is 0.87.
Norman says if Kansans can maintain their vigilance and continue observing best health practices the R sub naught of Kansas could, in theory, continue to decrease to zero. Norman did state that an influx of cases from outside of the area could have an impact on the potential decrease, however, for now Kansans should continue to practice proper social distancing, continue wearing a mask in public and was their hands frequently.
The next scheduled news conference from the state is scheduled for 2 pm Monday. Governor Laura Kelly will lead that conference and you can listen to it in its entirety on KVOE 1400 am, 96.9 fm and KVOE.com.
