Guidance on social distance is adapting as the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently said it’s OK to have three-foot social distancing bubbles instead of six feet. Lyon County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern says guidance from the CDC comes with a lot of larger school districts getting ready to send most or all of their students back to school buildings soon. She also says it reflects nearly-universal mask usage in school buildings.
USD 253 Emporia is on spring break this week but will have all non-remote learners back at school buildings starting March 29.
Meanwhile, this is the week the state’s vaccination effort moves from Phase 2 to a combination Phase 3 and 4. Lyon County will have a prime vaccination clinic Thursday at the Fairgrounds Anderson Building with 1,400 doses available. Self-scheduling continues online through www.publichealth.lyoncounty.org. The booster dose clinic Friday has about 1,000 people signed up.
Monday also marks the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Lyon County. Since then, there have been 4,147 confirmed cases of the virus and 83 deaths. Over 43 percent of the county’s estimated population of 33,400 has been tested and over 200 residents have been hospitalized. There are currently 41 active cases.
Areawide, over 4,000 people have come down with the virus and almost 120 people have died since coronavirus officially came to the area with a case out of Morris County on March 17. Area counties report eight active cases total with their last reports over the past week.
As has been the case the past several weeks, KVOE will have several on-air updates dealing with the county’s response to the virus. The COVID-19 Vaccination Briefing featuring Flint Hills Community Health Center CEO Renee Hively will be at 8:20 am Monday. Millbern will be on Thursday at 7:15 am.
