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COVID-19 cases surge in central Kansas
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Medicalodges in Great Bend was again on this week’s COVID-19 cluster list, with 32 cases in the last 14 days. A Great Bend daycare center was also on the list.

Every Wednesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment publishes the names of locations that have five or more COVID-19 cases with symptom onset dates in the last 14 days. At Medicalodges Great Bend, the last onset date was Dec. 30, 2021.

Other area locations on the KDHE cluster list included:

• “Home Daycare” in Great Bend, with six cases in the past 14 days. The last date of symptom onset was Jan. 7. It was unclear what daycare the state was referring to.

• Ellsworth Correctional Facility, with 16 cases. The last date of symptom onset was Jan. 6.

• Russell Regional Hospital, with five cases. The last date of symptom onset was Jan. 9.

The long-term care center Medicalodges of Great Bend has been on the cluster list every week since Dec. 15, 2021. Last week, the KDHE database showed it had 12 cases in the 14 days prior to Jan. 5. Both last week and this week showed Dec. 30 as the last onset date.


Surging case numbers

Barton County has seen 209 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to the KDHE. There had been 4,840 cases as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 5, and 5,049 cases by 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12. Starting the year with 4,803 cases as of Jan. 3, that’s 246 cases so far in 2022.

Statewide, there were 601,859 cases as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, resulting in 17,502 hospitalizations and 7,141 deaths. There were 22,240 new cases, 139 new hospitalizations and 27 new deaths reported since Monday, Jan. 10.

As of Jan. 12, 2022, 60.1% of Kansans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.


Area cases

There have been no new area deaths related to COVID-19 reported since Friday, Jan. 7. There have been no new hospital admissions related to COVID-19 in Barton, Pawnee or Stafford counties this week.

Here are the total cases for area counties as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, with any change since Jan. 10:

• Barton 5,049 (+102) 

• Ellsworth 1,707 (+29)

• Pawnee 1,737 (+10)

• Rice 2,003 (+48)

• Rush 653 (+14)

• Russell 1,588 (+33)

• Stafford 920 (+29)