Lyon County saw its largest single-day increase in new COVID-19 cases Friday.
Lyon County Public Health reported 45 new cases bringing the overall case total to 1,316. Lyon County Public Health Officer Renee Hively says the sudden surge in cases is due to a combination of community spread, new clusters and social gatherings.
When asked if the sudden surge will be a continuing trend or a one-time occurrence, Hively says that is “hard to predict” at this time. However, she says many residents are not being very forthcoming with reporting close contact information, due mainly to House Bill 20-16 which does not require individuals to report that information.
She says that trend could potentially have an impact on case spikes moving forward. Hively says close contact tracing is currently underway for those new identified cases, however, the exact turnaround time for when those individuals will be notified varies based on the number of cases and the number of individuals in which they have come into contact with.
The goal is to have all contacts notified within the same day a positive case is identified. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 it is highly recommended you notify any and all individuals you may have recently had prolonged contact with.
Before Friday, the largest single-day increases ranged anywhere between 20 to 30 new cases, however, the spikes were typically reported at the start of the work-week and included data collected over the entirety of the weekend.
In addition to the new cases, Public Health reported three new recoveries and 42 new active cases bringing the active case total to 125.
For clusters:
Colleges and Universities: 1 active cluster, 78 total cases, 8 active cases, 0 deaths
Schools: 3 active clusters, 28 total cases, 13 active cases, 0 deaths
Gatherings: 1 active cluster, 6 total cases, 6 active cases, 0 deaths
For schools:
*Emporia State university added five cases over the past week and now has 79 total since mid-August. There are six active student cases. Three students are in on-campus isolation and six are in on-campus quarantine.
*Flint Hills Technical College has two active cases. Six people are in quarantine. The college does not list its total since the pandemic started.
Elsewhere in the KVOE listening area:
*Greenwood County announced 10 new cases and now has 108 total. Four cases are currently active.
*Morris County added 21 new cases Thursday with 86 total. 27 cases are currently active with two hospitalizations.
