COVID cases drop
Staff writer
County COVID-19 cases are continuing a two-week decline after a spike in numbers just three weeks earlier.
As of Tuesday evening, Marion County Health Department reported three new cases in this past week, with one person hospitalized and three people in isolation.
This brings the total number of cases to 1,082 by the health department’s count. The death count for the county is 24.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment data, always different from county data, lists a total of 1,104 COVID cases for the county.
A possible COVID-19 patient was taken by ambulance at 11:20 p.m. to Newton Medical Center.
Emergency medical services director Travis Parmley said Tuesday he could not confirm whether the patient had COVID because of medical privacy laws.
“We take a lot of our respiratory patients to Newton Med,” Parmley said, adding that the hospital at Newton is better equipped to deal with respiratory distress.
So far, the county has vaccinated 2,470 people.
The next vaccination clinic is set for 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Both appointments and walk-ins are welcome.
Appointments can be made by calling the health department at (620) 382-2550 or by going to the county website and signing up online on the health department page.
The health department now gives vaccines to anyone 18 and older, whether or not they live in the county.
State marks loss
The state noted a grim milestone Friday as flags were lowered to half-staff in honor of more than 5,000 who died from COVID-19.
Friday’s 17 new COVID deaths raised the death tally to 5,016.
Flags were lowered from noon Friday until sundown Sunday to honor both state residents who died and their families.
“We cannot become numb to the significance of this number,” Governor Laura Kelly said in a statement. “That’s 5,000 mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, loved ones and neighbors who we’ve lost to virus-related deaths.”
Kelly said the best way to honor them is to get vaccinated and continuing to practice health protocols.