The Ellis County Health Department on Monday announced it would begin reporting seven-day averages of new COVID-19 cases in an attempt to better show trends of spread or decline in the county.
The department said the change is because of the wide variance in the time it take to return tests, noting some tests are taking three to 10 days to be returned.
"By reporting seven-day averages, the data will be more consistent with showing trends of case growth or decline. Ellis County is currently experiencing another increase in both percent of positives and cases per day," the department said in a news release. "This is not the direction we want to be heading into flu season. We must make better choices and continue to follow best practices as we work through this public health emergency."
The ECHD identified three significant cluster of coronavirus cases, including the Fort Hays State University student population and two long-term care facilities.
"We have seen improvements in the FHSU student population, but we must all take every precaution possible to limit the amount of spread," the release noted.
Read the entire release below:
