COVID update

As the weather moves everyone indoors, COVID cases have continued to bump up in Barton County. Barton County Health Department Administrator Joel Dermott stated that there is a lot of virus activity in the county right now, other than COVID. He stated that the county is also seeing an increased number of flu cases. Dermott stated, “This could shape up to be a tough season for all.” He did mention that the early data on the Omicron variant looks promising, as it does not appear to be as deadly as the Delta strain. He added, “We remain hopeful and vigilant”.

Twenty-four new COVID cases were added in the past seven days and one additional death was reported. Dermott pointed out that the positivity rate remains below the state average, adding that sewershed results for the region are slightly elevated.

To date there have been a total of 1616 COVID cases in Barton County, with 15 active, 32 confirmed deaths, eight probably deaths, 1561 recovered and 24 new cases in the past seven days.