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Social Distance

What Are Coronaviruses? 

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can lead to illness in humans and animals. Human coronaviruses are common throughout the world, and can cause mild to moderate illness, like the common cold. Symptoms of infection by a coronavirus include: 

• Runny Nose
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore Throat
• Fever

Disease Transmission 

Coronaviruses are most commonly spread from an infected person through cough and sneezing, closer personal contact, such as shaking hands, touching objects or surfaces that have the virus on it, and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing hands. 

Coronaviruses are common and many laboratory test results doctors order may show a positive coronavirus infection. That infection is not the same as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

Take simple steps to prevent the spread of diseases like COVID-19 by:

• Washing your hands 
  
• Avoiding close contact with people who are sick 
• Covering your coughs and sneezes
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands 
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces 
• Stay home when sick

Click through the tabs below to learn more about the novel coronavirus disease, named COVID-19. All media releases can be found in the Latest News tab. 

For more information, please view the COVID-19 Fact Sheet (pdf). 

Signs and symptoms of COVID-19 infection (pdf) most commonly include: 

• Fever
• Cough
• Shortness of breath

Call Your Doctor

If you have recently traveled to an area experiencing widespread disease transmission, or have been in close contact with someone who has and is sick with COVID-19, please contact your healthcare provider

If you are having symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, please call our screening call center at 785-323-6400.

The preventing the spread of disease in communities fact sheet (pdf) provides basic information about different public health interventions to control and limit the spread of disease in the community. 

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COVID-19 Response: Best Practices for Geary County Businesses & Employers Open to the Public

You should be able to say and do the following:

Outside the business:

• If there is crowding, limit the number of customers allowed to enter the store. Staff an employee at the front door and, as one (1) customer leaves, allow another customer in.
• Post signs at the front door informing customers of occupancy limits.
• Cue customers on the sidewalk in front of the store and post signs along the line urging customers to encourage a social distancing of six (6) feet.
• Place carts and hand baskets at the front of the store and clean handles before bringing them into the store or providing them to a customer.
• Maximize curbside pickup of walk-up customers and online orders.

Inside the business:

• At point-of-sale registers, limit the lines and post signs at each register urging customers to maintain a social distancing of six (6) feet.
• Post social distancing signs and floor markings in key areas throughout the store.
• Place hand sanitizer available at every open register.
• Routinely clean the store and have soap and water available in restrooms.
• Keep meeting rooms and offices doors open and eliminate closed room meetings.

Action Items:

• Make alcohol-based hand sanitizer available for customers and other visitors.
• Encourage employees to stay home if they are sick. If possible, extend time off policy to make sure team members have every opportunity to seek medical attention, if needed.
• Encourage visitors at increased risk of severe illness to stay at home or otherwise avoid facilities.
• Suspend non-essential visits to facilities.
• Observe and encourage social distancing measures.
• Routinely clean stores and increase spot cleaning of high traffic areas and restrooms, using CDC approved disinfectants.
• Limit large meetings and gatherings and hold meetings in open, well-ventilated, well-spaced areas. Use teleconferencing for meetings, when practical.
• Constantly monitor and meet regularly to review the situations in facilities.

Employees:

Advise employees to use preventive measures similar to those that help prevent the spread of the flu, as recommended by the CDC:

• Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds frequently.  Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water is unavailable.
• Avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Cover mouth and nose with a tissue when they cough or sneeze, and then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home when they are sick, except to receive medical care.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Make sure to get proper rest.

Geary County Business owners that have questions about the Stay At Home order in effect from today through April 19, 2020 and believe their business should be on the Essential Functions list, can apply for that clarification on this website.
 The website states:
 "The State of Kansas has established guidelines for determining which businesses provide functions considered “essential”. This determination is based upon the Kansas Essential Functions Framework (KEFF). For the safety of your employees and the public, it is critical that as many individuals as possible remain at home. As noted by the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Lee A. Norman, M.D.,just because a business may fall within one of the exceptions to the KEFF, it does not mean that business should be open. Accordingly, it is strongly encouraged that unless your business absolutely needs to be open to fulfill one of the essential functions identified in KEFF, you should strongly consider not exposing your employees or the public to the dangers associated with COVID-19."

https://governor.kansas.gov/keff/Questions

Geary County Health Department 785-762-5788

Additional business related info can be viewed at:

Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce

To stay up to date stay tuned to your local news sources and follow us Facebook:

Monday, March 30, 2020

The State of Kansas now reports 368 cases of the novel coronavirus and eight deaths, including the newly reported cases in Sedgwick and Crawford counties.          

Dr. Lee Norman, the Secretary of the Kansas Health Department and Environment, addressed the uptick in COVID 19 cases.   

He said the two latest deaths include a woman in her 40s from Crawford County and a man over the age of 60 with underlying health conditions in Sedgwick County. Test results confirmed he had COVID-19 last week and he was hospitalized

Norman said the average stay in the hospital is 10 days and 14 days for patients in ICU. Patients range in age from 4 to 95 years old, with a median age of 55.  The secretary said it was projected that Kansas would have 300 to 400 cases of coronavirus by the end of March. We are currently at 368 confirmed cases as of March 30. He said he still predicts the peak date for the state will be April 24.  "We will get through this in April, there’s no question about that. It’s not going to be any fun, I admit, and I think what we expect to see is the number of cases will die down in the summer, spring into summertime but we are pretty sure that we will see a recurrence in the fall," said Dr. Norman.  He said by that time, he expects doctors will be able to spot the virus early and isolate people early.

Testing

Kansas currently has a two-week supply of test kits, according to Dr. Norman. 

He said one piece of equipment came in and another is coming that will increase the state’s capacity to do 700 to 1,000 tests a day. New testing methods including a rapid 45-minute test that comes with 65,000 test kits should also been in by the end of the week. 

Not only would this allow for more testing, but Norman said it would help to better pinpoint who has the disease and where it is prevalent.

"What this kind of testing capacity will allow us to do is do population studies and from a public health perspective, that’s what we want to do, which is beyond just diagnosing an illness in a sick person and the people around that person. It allows us to take it to the next step which is to have distributed testing capabilities around the state, testing people who are well or might be shedding the virus," Dr. Norman said.

The KDHE lab is now only covering about 28-percent of the tests performed. The other 72-percent are coming from commercial labs.   "That has taken a tremendous burden off of us, but, we are still in this area in the state of Kansas, still focused on finding out if someone is ill is it coronavirus," said Dr. Norman.

Stay-at-Home order

He said every person who gets COVID-19 will infect 4.64 other people, driving up the rate. He said if people keep from going out, that will reduce the doubling time from three days to six days. 

"This is not a game about trying to skirt around the exceptions in the executive order. This is about staying home," said Dr. Norman.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has set up a hotline for questions regarding COVID-19.

That number is: 1-866-534-3463 (1-866-KDHEINF). It is available during the following hours: Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.