Saline County is still holding steady with 21 confirmed COVID-19 cases.  The Saline County Health Department says it does not have any additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report Thursday for the seventh day in a row.

The Kansas Department of Heath and Environment says there are two other previously unreported probable cases in Saline County as well. The local health department says the two additional cases fall under KDHE’s definition of “probable” which are cases that were directly associated with a confirmed case; but were not tested because testing wasn’t as robust as it is now. These cases are ones from back in March and early April and not ones which are new to Saline County.

Saline County also has two COVID-19 related deaths.

Elsewhere in Central Kansas, McPherson County has 25 cases of COVID-19, Marion County ticks up with six, Ottawa County continues with four, Rice County stays at three, Dickinson County continues with two and Ellsworth County has one positive COVID-19 test.

At 11 am, KDHE reported the following in their daily release:

• A total of 6,144 positive cases and 147 deaths.  That is an increase of 410 positive cases from yesterday’s release.
• 38,678 negative tests have been received through the KDHE and private labs.
• The age range is 0 years to 99 years (median 42 years of age).

 Saline County is following the Governors “Ad Astra: A Plan to Reopen Kansas” issued through Executive Order 20-29.  Currently, Phase 1 is in effect meaning the following activities are not allowed to be open or occur during this time (this plan and additional information can be found at www.saline.org/coronavirus):

• Community centers
• Large entertainment venues with a capacity of 2,000 or more
• Fairs, festivals, parades, and graduations
• Public swimming pools
• Organized sports facilities
• No organized sports team practices

As a reminder as we attempt to reopen Saline County, the entire community is counting on each person to follow the below recommendations to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

• It is highly encouraged to continue to wear cloth masks and maintain social distancing.
• It is highly encouraged for people to only leave their homes for essentials.
• It is highly recommended those employees in any service industry wear PPE (especially cloth masks).
• It is highly encouraged to continue telework.
• Avoid socializing in person with groups of 10 or more individuals in both indoor and outdoor settings.
• Any employees exhibiting symptoms should be required to stay at home and asked to call their health care provider.
• It will take the effort to follow the above recommendations from everyone in our community to continue our reopening.