Riley County reports death from year ago as COVID related
Sep. 9—Riley County's coronavirus-related death toll is at 57 after health officials recently added a death from nearly a year ago.
In a news release Wednesday evening, the Riley County Health Department announced the COVID deaths now includes a 75-year-old man who died Sept. 15, 2020, at Ascension Via Christi Hospital. The department said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) identified his death as a probable case, and the Office of Victim Services verified it.
The county on Wednesday identified 108 new cases since Sept. 1.
Riley County has reported 7,575 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. Of those, 176 were active as of Wednesday.
In Riley County, since December, the health department has reported 151 cases from variants of concern.
As of Wednesday, seven COVID-positive patients were under care at Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan. Two unvaccinated patients were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
The rate of positive tests in Riley County increased last week. From Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, the county had a positive rate of 5.8% with 110 cases. From Aug. 22 to Aug. 28, the county had a rate of 3.9% with 67 cases. The two-week average is 4.89%.
Julie Gibbs, director of the Riley County Health Department, said the county is seeing 15-20 new COVID cases per day. "Our percent positive has gone up a little bit in the last week, but we expected that with school getting started," Gibbs said.
Pott County outbreaks
KDHE on Wednesday identified two outbreaks in Pottawatomie County: St. George Elementary and Good Samaritan Society Valley Vista, a long-term care facility in Wamego.
St. George Elementary had 22 cases in the last 14 days with the last symptom onset on Sept. 2. Last week, the elementary school posted on social media that most of the cases were in one grade level mostly occurring in one classroom.
Good Samaritan Society Valley Vista had five cases in the last 14 days with the last symptom onset on Sept. 2.
