Three COVID-19 cases found in Barton County are from the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment reports.
An additional three cases are from the Alpha variant. These variants were found in 23 specimens sequenced.
County Health Director Karen Winkelman said the Delta variants here were discovered in the last two to three weeks.
Ellsworth County has sequenced 15 specimens and found four variants: one Alpha, one Delta, and two Gamma.
One specimen of the Alpha variant has been found in each of the following area counties: Ellis, Pawnee, Rush and Russell, and three of those specimens were found in Rice County.
No variants have been found in Stafford County, where only one specimen has been sequenced.
All of these are listed as “variants of concern,” which means there is evidence of an increase in transmissibility and more severe disease as evidenced by increased hospitalizations or deaths. Currently, there are no variants that rise to the level of “high consequences.”
To date, Kansas has seen 317,651 confirmed or probable cases, resulting in 11,064 hospitalizations and 5,150 statewide deaths as of 9 a.m. Monday. There were 347 new cases, 29 new hospitalizations and three new deaths reported since Friday, June 25.
Area death totals
Here are the total COVID-19-related deaths for area counties:
• Barton - 51
• Ellsworth - 25
• Pawnee - 14
• Rice - 12
• Rush - 14
• Russell - 28
• Stafford - 10
Case totals
Here are the total confirmed and probable cases for area counties, with the change since June 25:
• Barton 2,614 (+3)
• Ellsworth 1,223 (-1)
• Pawnee 1,174 (+0)
• Rice 1,076 (+0)
• Rush 434 (+0)
• Russell 865 (+0)
• Stafford 344 (+0)
Vaccinations
More than 1.28 million Kansans have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of this week. That is 44.1% of the total population, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
In Barton County, 42.6% of the population age 12 years and older have received at least one dose and 39.1% have completed the vaccine series.
