Lyon County residents are being strongly urged to follow recent recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to a high level of local COVID-19 transmission.
Due to the growing concerns of the COVID-19 delta variant, the CDC announced recommendations Tuesday for all individuals in areas with either “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission to once again begin wearing masks when indoors. The recommendation applies to both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated alike.
This recommendation now affects Lyon County as according to Public Health Officer Dr. Ladun Oyenuga, the CDC has placed Lyon in the “red” category on its color-coding system, meaning there is a high level of transmission occurring.
Dr. Oyenuga says while the vaccine will not fully prevent an individual from catching the virus, as is evident by recent breakthrough cases, it will help to reduce the severity of the infection. She reports that to date all hospitalized COVID-19 patients have all been unvaccinated individuals.
In a recent news release, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly encourages every resident who is not vaccinated to receive a vaccination saying, “that is the best way to stop the spread of COVID in our state. For those who are vaccinated, I ask that you speak with your friends, neighbors, and loved ones who are unvaccinated and encourage them to get vaccinated to protect themselves and our state.” Governor Kelly also says the state is still evaluating what the recent guidance will mean for Kansas in the long run, however, “this administration has consistently followed the recommendations from the experts at the CDC – and we don’t intend to stop.”
Dr. Oyenuga says the CDC’s guidance is still a “strong recommendation” meaning mask use is not mandatory at this time. With that being said, Dr. Oyenuga feels if we cannot get a handle on the situation quickly, we may be returning to mandatory mask use policies soon.
As of Monday, Lyon County has 34 variant cases, 16 of the delta variant and 18 of the alpha variant.
