County has just two active COVID cases

By Neal A. Johnson
Posted 5/26/21

Good news from the Osage County Health Department (OCHD) as Administrator Kim Sallin reported just two active cases as of Tuesday. She credits continued vaccinations around the …

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County has just two active COVID cases

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Good news from the Osage County Health Department (OCHD) as Administrator Kim Sallin reported just two active cases as of Tuesday. She credits continued vaccinations around the county.
“According to the federal database, 31.4 percent of our population has completed the vaccination and that’s a good thing,” she said.

Good news from the Osage County Health Department (OCHD) as Administrator Kim Sallin reported just two active cases as of Tuesday. However, one case was hospitalized and the other is a breakthrough case.
According to Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), a Vaccine Breakthrough Infection is a person who has SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen detected on a respiratory specimen collected 14 or more days after they completed the primary series of an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine (e.g. two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or one dose of the Janssen vaccine). This is Osage County's fifth breakthrough case.
With the two new cases, the total number of infections to date is 1,716, with 16 deaths.
OCHD staff on Friday provided 42 doses at the walk-in clinic at the Annex Building, including 19 prime shots and 23 boosters. Of the prime doses, 15 of them were Pfizer vaccinations administered to children aged 12-15.
Sallin reminded parents to consider this option for kids ages 12 and up.
At Meta on Thursday, nine people turned out for vaccination at the fire department.
In other good news, the child recently hospitalized with a very serious case of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) has made significant improvement and should be headed home soon, Sallin said.
“That’s really good news,” she added. “We’ve been waiting for that.”
Sallin said there has been a rash of dog bites in the last two months. There have been five of them, and one cat has gotten in on the action. She's also dealt with a couple of cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
“Everyone should be very careful and remember to check for ticks, especially with children,” said Sallin. “This is the time of year when they become more prevalent.”
Finally, Sallin reported that the Cole County Health Department has begun conducting inspections here in the county on behalf of OCHD, which is understaffed for the duty.