(RILEY COUNTY, KS – November 11, 2020) A 63 year-old Riley County resident died this morning after testing positive for coronavirus on November 2. He lived at Via Christi Village and passed away at Ascension Via Christi hospital. He is the 13th COVID-related fatality in the county.
Riley County has 114 new positive cases and 20 additional recoveries since Monday’s report. There are currently 352 active coronavirus cases in the county.
Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan is caring for 10 positive patients at this time. The patients have symptoms severe enough to require hospitalization and four of them are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“It is essential that you follow health guidelines, wear a mask, maintain distance, and stay home if you are sick,” said Local Health Officer Julie Gibbs. “With the increase in cases we are seeing, it serves as a call to action for all of us to do our part so we can get through this.The more contact you have with people outside your home, the greater your risk for catching or spreading the virus.”
Free testing will be available tomorrow, Thursday, November 12, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at CiCo Park in Manhattan. Everyone is welcome and no appointments are necessary. Please wear a mask. Enter the park from the Kimball/Candlewood driveway and follow the signs to the 4H barns. Free testing will be available every Thursday, rain or shine, except the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
All of the results from last week’s free testing event have been received. Of the 525 tested, a total of 118 were positive. Contact tracing staff are still making calls to notify all participants, and are calling positive patients first. Please be patient as they work to call all patients and close contacts.
For more information about testing, please visit www.rileycountyks.gov/coronavirus, contact a health care provider, or call the Riley County Screening Line at 785-323-6400. The Screening Line is staffed by nurses and is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Screening Line will not be available today, Wednesday, November 11 because the health department is closed for Veterans' Day.
Riley County Statistics for Wednesday, November 11, 2020:
- Total positive cases in Riley County Residents: 2,637
- Total active: 351
- Total recovered: 2,273
- Total deaths: 13
- Total negative test results: 21,626
Positive Rate in Riley County
- Week 45 (November 1-7): 9.1%
- 138 positive
- 1,519 total tests
- Week 44 (October 25 – 31): 9.4%
- 115 positives
- 1,229 total tests
- Two-week average: 9.21%
- 253 positives
- 2,748 total tests
Case counts are preliminary and subject to verification. Patient test results are calculated in the week the test was administered, not the week in which results were received. As results come in for previous weeks, the percent positive information is updated. Typically, results are processed in 48 to 72 hours for tests in Riley County. Percent positive information will now be updated each Wednesday, to allow time more test results to come in.
There are now eight active outbreaks in Riley County. A new outbreak was identified at Creche Daycare and no outbreaks have expired since the last report.
Find a PDF of public outbreak information online at https://www.rileycountyks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19680/11-11-public-outbreak-information
Reducing severe cases of influenza is an important step to keep hospitals and healthcare providers from being overwhelmed. Drive-up flu shots are available at the health department. Please make an appointment by calling 785-776-4779 ext. 7675 or schedule an appointment online at http://www.rileycountyks.gov/flu.
There will be no video update today. The next video update will be published at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18.
For more information about Riley County’s response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, visit the Riley County website at www.rileycountyks.gov/coronavirus, follow RCHD on Facebook at /Rileycountyhealthdepartment/ and Twitter @RileyCoHealth.
