A change in COVID-19 data releases to the public signals an overall shift in the county’s pandemic focus.
That was one takeaway from Lyon County Public Health Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern’s most recent on-air interview on KVOE on Thursday. Public Health is shifting from three data reports a week to one, with a release Friday and then every Friday until further notice. Millbern says widespread vaccine availability is letting Public Health plan the transition process into a recovery phase.
Millbern says this will lead to a better use of staff time as the pandemic continues.
Public Health had used daily reports for months after the start of the pandemic in March 2020. It shifted to three weekly reports in November 2020.
Millbern says Public Health will not change its reporting schedule to the state, even though its public releases are going from three times a week to once a week. Millbern also says the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both report COVID data at the county level.
Lyon County currently has 5,942 total cases since the pandemic started. There are currently 107 active cases, including 23 breakthroughs involving fully vaccinated residents. Ninety-two people have died. Lyon County also sits 13th in Kansas with roughly 61 percent of its eligible population fully vaccinated.
