GREAT BEND TRIBUNE Limited doses hinder COVID shot effort A lot of work, cooperation goes into vaccination clinics Barton County Health Director Karen Winkelman gives a COVID-19 update to the County Commission Monday morning. - photo by DALE HOGG Great Bend Tribune
COVID emergency declaration extended
dhogg@gbtribune.com
The Barton County Commission Monday morning extended the COVID-19 state of local public health emergency until March 31. The current declaration expired Tuesday.
The commission first ratified a health emergency declaration at a special meeting held March 20, 2020. That Declaration was extended on May 18, 2020, and again on July 13, 2020.
Monday’s extension will remain in place until March 31 unless the commission terminates it earlier. The extension immunizes the county from liability and allows for the county to receive state and federal aid, said Emergency Risk Manag
GREAT BEND TRIBUNE Vaccine demand passes supply at Friday clinic Cars line up at the Great Bend Expo Complex Friday afternoon as people await the start of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic sponsored by the Barton County Health Department. More people showed up than there were doses available. - photo by Dale Hogg
Word was being circulated at about 1:30 p.m. Friday that those who weren’t already out at the Great Bend Expo Complex for their first COVID-19 vaccine need not bother making the trip. The Barton County Health Department was holding a drive-through clinic there and was going to start administering 300 doses at 4 p.m., but demand rapidly outstripped the supply.
GREAT BEND TRIBUNE Kansas continues Phase 1 of vaccinations Barton County reports 58 new cases from Tuesday to Friday This graphic shows the phases by population for dispersing the COVID-19 vaccine in Kansas. The anticipated dates for these phases have not been announced.
Governor Laura Kelly announced Thursday her administration’s COVID-19 distribution order for population groups in Kansas. Kelly reported these phase groups were created using guidance from national and state public health experts and input from the Kansas Coronavirus Vaccine Advisory Council.
“The Barton County Health Department has collaborated with community partners to administer all of the vaccine allotted to the health department at this time,” County Administrator Phil Hathcock announced Friday. “This effort has fulfilled the majority of the KDHE (Kansas Department of Health and Environment) guidance to vaccinate health-care workers, em
GREAT BEND TRIBUNE Clara Barton Hospital seeks public input on local health needs Clara Barton Hospital
HOISINGTON Over the next three months, Clara Barton Hospital will be joining with the Barton County Health Department and other community health providers to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The purpose of the assessment is to better understand the current health needs of residents in the Clara Barton service area and to help identify and prioritize where and how improvements can be made. The information and insight gained through the assessment will be used to guide new strategies and enhance existing efforts to improve the health of our community.
GREAT BEND TRIBUNE Barton County Courthouse on cluster list
The Barton County Courthouse was listed as one of the COVID-19 clusters in Kansas when the Kansas Department of Health and Environment published its weekly update on Wednesday. KDHE publishes the names of locations that have five or more cases with symptom onset dates in the last 14 days. The courthouse has had five, with the last onset date being Dec. 14.
The only other area cluster Wednesday was the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, also with five cases in the last 14 days.
To date, Kansas has had 209,689 COVID-19 cases, resulting in 6,424 hospitalizations and 2,507 statewide deaths as of 9 a.m. Wednesday. There were 5,089 new cases, 59 new deaths and 157 new hospitalizations reported since Monday, Dec. 21. Due to the Christmas holiday, case counts will not be updated again until Monday, Dec. 28.