Dissemination of COVID-19 information evolves

According to Barton County Health Department Administrator Joel Dermott, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, the health department’s response must change along with it. Effective July 1 they have moved into their second phase of information dissemination. Health department staff is currently hard at work contact tracing and investigating all of the positive cases and close contacts in the county.

As has been the trend with other students ide counties who have seen an increase in cases, the Barton County Health Department will no longer be doing a formal press release for every new case. Instead they will update their facebook page daily, with running totals for reported cases, recovered cases, hospitalizations, etc. The health department is also limiting comments on their page as they try to keep it more informational and easier to browse.

As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15, the total number of positive cases were 50; Total number of new cases since last report: 0; Number of Active Cases: 18; Total of Recovered Cases: 32; Number of total hospitalizations: 1 and Number of COVID-19 related deaths: 0.

For questions or concerns feel free to give the health department a call at 417-682-3363.

The Barton County Health Department would like to thank everyone and to remind them to stay safe.