The Kansan
A COVID-19 variant first found in the United Kingdom has made its way to Harvey County, with the Harvey County Health Department reporting the first five cases of variant B.1.1.7. That is the UK variant that is highly contagious, said Lynette Redington, director of the Harvey County Health Department.
According to the Center for Disease Control, B.1.1.7: was first identified in the U.S. in December 2020. It was initially detected in the United Kingdom.
The CDC has identified four variants, with two of those identified in Harvey County in the past two weeks.
According to the CDC, these variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19.
County reports first breakthrough COVID cases
By Kansan Staff
Some 26% of people living in Harvey County are fully vaccinated as of April 27, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The county reported two breakthrough cases new cases of COVID-19 For Harvey County, that is not bad. One of those is a variant, said Lynette Redington, director of the Harvey County Health Department. It is called the New York variant. It is classed as a variant of interest . the lowest classification of variants.
Both of those individuals have recovered.
The county reported there are 3,560 fully vaccinated individuals in the county.
County health watching for breakthrough COVID cases thekansan.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thekansan.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
• Other medical risks
Those vaccine distribution phases also include non-health care workers in critical infrastructure who cannot work remotely, including:
• Agricultural and food workers not included in previous phases
• Workers performing in-person activities indoors
• Utility workers
• Logistics workers, such as truck transportation workers and couriers
• Water and wastewater workers
• Information technology and communication workers
Vaccine appointment information is available using the “Find My Vaccine” mapping tool at www.kansasvaccine.gov.
Redington reported 51 active cases of COVID-19, 14,553 individuals tested, 29,487 tests completed, three currently hospitalized, a two-week positivity rate of 4.24% (down from 4.88%) and 3,477 total cases during the pandemic.
She reported 3,665 vaccine doses delivered to date by the Harvey County Health Department. She said 995 doses were delivered from March 8-12. Another batch of vaccine is expected to be de
County COVID-19 numbers trend downward
The Kansan
One year ago Feb. 28, 2020 to be exact was the first planning meeting involving members of the COVID-19 task force in Harvey County.
What has followed were community lockdowns, mask mandates, crowd size limitations, spiking infections, contact tracing, the opening of testing centers and beginning vaccine distribution for starters.
The time period also included 55 deaths within Harvey County.
However, case loads in the county are dropping just as they have statewide. We are averaging about five new cases a day over the past 14 days, said Lynette Redington, director of the Harvey County Health Department. Nine of those cases, over those 14 days, are cases from other counties that were sent to us. . We currently have 44 active cases and we have been under 100 active cases for all of February. That is wonderful, as well.