COVID update

The number of new cases of COVID reported in Barton County over the past seven days is 21. “With the holidays upon us, we are seeing slightly elevated numbers locally,” said Barton County Health Department Administrator Joel Dermott. He added that Barton County remains below state averages for positivity rate and that the current case count puts Barton County just about in the middle of the pack statewide.

The dominant variant remains Delta statewide, although the state is seeing some of the Omicron variant pop up in small amounts. Dermott stated that it was still too early to know what impact, if any, Omicron will have locally.

The good news is that no additional deaths were reported for this reporting period. To date there have been a total number of 1635 COVID cases in Barton County, with 11 active; 32 confirmed deaths; eight probable deaths; 1584 recovered, and as noted earlier in the article, there have been 21 cases reported over the past seven days.

“Please take time to enjoy your family and friends at this most special time of year, but if you aren’t feeling well, use good judgement,” said Dermott, adding, “Have a very blessed Christmas”.