By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Ellis County is slightly below the state average for COVID-19 testing, but does have testing kits available.
Ellis County's testing rate is 12.5 per 1,000 people, Jason Kennedy, Ellis County Health Services director, said during a public webinar Friday morning. The Kansas rate is slightly higher at 13.25 tests per 1,000 people.
A lot of the testing has been driven by high-volume counties, such as Ford, Finney and Seward counties where there are outbreaks related to meatpacking plants.
As of last week, Ellis County trained 17 contact tracers. That is double what the state recommends, Kennedy said.
Ellis County has requested 2,800 test kits from the state, but has received a shipment of only 500 kits from a prior order, Kennedy said.
The state has ordered 500,000 tests, so Kennedy said he thought Ellis County would still have testing capacity.
"It is OK to go back out into society," Kennedy said. "We do have the testing capacity. We do have low case numbers. We have seen a continued downward trend. We are meeting all of the state health metrics.
"If you as a business owner are asking yourself, 'Is it safe?' you need to look at your industry standards. You also need take a personal risk assessment.
"You need to look around your business and see if there are areas of improvement, not just for COVID-19, but for safety as far as general good practices."
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has changed the way it is reporting cases. It is now including probable cases, which are people who have been exposed and had symptoms, but whose illness was not confirmed through a test.
This could also include someone who was exposed and had symptoms and had an anti-body test to confirm exposure.
The probable case that was added Thursday to Ellis County's count was a previous case. The last confirmed case in Ellis County was on April 17.
"What that means for Ellis County is that you are at no risk from these cases. These cases are old cases," Kennedy said.
Ellis County has had no residents hospitalized and no deaths.
The Ellis County Board of Health met Monday and determined it would not pass any guidelines that were more limiting than the state's reopening plan.
"We are lucky and fortunate here in Ellis County. The business owners have done a phenomenal job throughout this process, and even prior to this, of keeping customers safe and providing friendly, courteous service and really keeping the food and employees safe."
Best practices still apply despite the implementation of the reopening plan, which includes staying home as much as possible, especially if you are in a high-risk group, social distancing, handwashing, avoiding touching your face and wearing a mask in public.
"Masks protect other people from you if you are sick," Kennedy said. "Masks cut down on the droplets spread. ... The mask you wear protects the other person, and the mask the other person wears protects you."
If you constantly touch your mask and face, you are opening up a chance for transmission. Cloth masks also need to be regularly laundered.
Masks are recommended when 6 feet of social distancing can't be maintained, Kennedy said.
"If you are jogging in a park by yourself, I find it unlikely that you would be within 6 feet of someone," he said, "so decide for yourself and take in account your own risk assessment to determine whether a mask is important or impactful for you."
Frequently touched surfaces also need to be disinfected often, he said.
Kennedy said he did not know when the governor will announce when the state will move to phase II of the reopening plan. It will not be any sooner than May 18.
Kennedy said he has had questions in the office about organized sports. Organized sports are prohibited in phase I of the reopening plan. The ban is eliminated in phase II. You can still exercise outside if you practice social distancing.
Churches are able to open with more than 10 people at services, but must space unrelated worshipers 6 feet apart. Kennedy noted that protective space needs to be in all directions like a circle.
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