Saline County has not had a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 yet, but authorities say that doesn’t necessarily mean the virus is not here.

According to the Saline County Health Department, just because no positive cases have been reported through official channels, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a potential for a positive case to exist within the community. It is possible that a person hasn’t met the requirements for the testing set by KDHE and have been advised by their medical provider to self-quarantine.

Saline County agencies are aware of other Counties that have instituted shelter-in-place orders. That decision is one that is made by the local Health Officer in collaboration with the County Commission, and one that Saline County’s Health Officer is not considering at this point. Additionally, the Saline County Health Officer has already determined that should a local order be issued, that no paperwork would be required from employers identifying essential or even non-essential employees.

Governor Laura Kelly’s Executive Order that prohibits mass gatherings of 10 or more people will go into effect on Wednesday.

Several common questions and their answers directly related to symptoms, testing for the virus, and requirements for testing have been posted at www.saline.org/coronavirus.