We are a week past Halloween and we had our biggest one-day increase in coronavirus cases Thursday in Lyon County. Are the two connected? Maybe. Maybe not.
Lyon County Health Officer Renee Hively tells KVOE News there may be too much community spread to tell, although she wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bump related to the holiday.
Hively says Public Health workers have been “in response mode” over the past week with an increase in testing for symptomatic patients, a recent spate of illness for staff and the sudden departure of the National Guard after the full unit had to go into quarantine.
Based on prior raw data, Hively says there is typically a two-week lag between a spike in new cases and an influx of hospitalizations — which would schedule out to the week before Thanksgiving for a possible rise in hospital trips at a time when all area counties are seeing notable increase in activity. If numbers don’t flatten out or improve, Hively is already asking residents to plan for small, socially-distanced Thanksgiving gatherings.
Hively urged residents to “do their part” to limit the spread of coronavirus, including adhering to Lyon County’s new mask mandate, reduced mass gathering limit and social distancing.
