Lyon County Public Health says the recent spike in coronavirus activity has to do — at least in part — with people not using the now-longstanding mitigation strategies touted by health officials for almost eight solid months.
Emergency Preparedness Director Jennifer Millbern says the numbers this week reflect activity from one to two weeks ago, including the Halloween weekend.
Overall cases have jumped almost 300 since Oct. 29, while active cases have climbed almost 200 and are currently at record levels.
Millbern says the decision by Emporia Public Schools to put most students in remote learning — just two weeks after voting to increase the number of students at Emporia High and Emporia Middle School — shows how fluid things still are.
Millbern says the testing supply is in good shape now. That’s good news because testing numbers may not be at records, but the pace may be at a record level because of the increase of symptomatic patients and the reduced hours for the test line effective earlier this week. The Kansas National Guard had to end its time two weeks early due to quarantine or isolation and Public Health had to shift staff to cover the tests, so Public Health has the test line open half-days instead of full days.
Overall, Millbern says the staffing situation in Lyon County mirrors what is happening across Kansas. She says the system countywide is “very challenged” now and the need has overtaken the staff capacity — and she doesn’t see that changing any time soon.
