Atchison County COVID-19 cases rise by 39

COVID-19 cases in Atchison County jumped by 39 to 544 from August 9-16, 2021. They included :

3 males – ages 0-9

1 female, 3 males – ages 10-19

2 females – ages 20-29

5 females, 1 male – ages 30-39

3 females, 5 males – ages 40-49

2 females, 2 males – ages 50-59

4 females – ages 60-69

1 female, 3 males – ages 70-79

1 female – age 80-89

3 females – ages 90+

As of August 16, there have been 544 total cases and 39 are currently active cases. There have been 13 deaths. There are five active COVID-19 hospitalizations in our local hospital. Our current 7-day testing positivity rate is 14.2%.

People are calling the health center wanting to know how many of the new cases have been vaccinated. Due to the small number of cases, they are unable to give that number as it could break confidentiality rules. The health department can say that out of the 2,122 fully vaccinated Atchison County residents, 99.98% of them have not gotten COVID-19.

Atchison County Medical Director Dr. Aron Burke recently put out a COVID update and stated that “consistent with findings across the country, we have observed that vaccinated individuals in our community are NOT experiencing severe disease. We continue to strongly urge all members of our community, including eligible children, to seek to be vaccinated to protect yourself and others from severe disease.”

COVID-19 TESTING

Atchison County Health Department continues to have BinaxNOW test kits and are available for testing by appointment Monday through Thursday. These tests are free. The rapid antigen test provides results within 15 minutes after collecting the sample. This is a great option in identifying positives before going to school or work, so that multiple people do not have to be quarantined due to exposure. Health department workers are available and in the office by 7:30 a.m. each morning. Call 660-736-4121 if you are in need of testing as they will take your demographic information over the phone and will do the testing from your vehicle.

They have had an over-whelming amount of interest for this rapid testing. Those who live or work or go to school in Atchison County will take precedence.

Community Hospital-Fairfax offers COVID testing Monday-Friday from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Call 660-686-2211 to register.

Missouri Department of Health has free at-home test kits that can be ordered online. Visit https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/community-test.php#self-collection to find out more information about those kits and how to order.

COVID VACCINE UPDATES

Atchison County has continued to rank in the top 10 since the state started track-ing. Atchison County is ranked sixth in the state with 41.3% of residents completing vaccinations and ranked 10th in the state with 45.3% of residents receiving at least one COVID vaccine dose. In total, 4,051 doses have been given in Atchison County. For details see: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/data/.

COVID-19 Vaccine

The Atchison County Health Department has Moderna and Pfizer vaccines available this week. They are out of Johnson & Johnson at this time; however, they plan to receive more. COVID-19 vaccines are free. Walk-ins are welcome. Pfizer is the vaccine available for those ages 12 years of age and older. Anyone age 12-17 will need an adult present during the vaccination. To find a COVID-19 vaccine near you, go to www.vaccines.gov and type in your zip code. You can also narrow the search down by type of vaccine and search radius.

If any businesses have employees interested in the COVID vaccine, Atchison County Health Department will come to you. Call 660-736-4121. If you know of any home-bound individuals needing a COVID-19 vacci-nation, please reach out at 660-736-4121.

COVID-19 Vaccine Booster

The U.S Food and Drug Administration expanded emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines to authorize a booster shot for certain immunocompromised patients. Growing evidence has suggested select im-muno-compromised patients mount a diminished protective im-mune response, even after two doses of vaccine. Atchison County Health Department is waiting for the “green light” on when they are able to administer booster doses. Once they have more information, it will be shared with the newspaper and on the Atchison County Health Department Facebook page. It was noted that other fully vaccinated individuals do not need an additional vaccine dose right now.

MO VIP: Missouri Vaccine Incentive Program

MO VIP is Missouri’s vaccine incentive program – rewarding those who have already chosen or will choose to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services will partner with the Missouri Lottery to draw 180 winners in five randomized drawings who will win either $10,000 cash or $10,000 towards an education savings account. In total, the state will award 900 individuals throughout the incentive program. For more information visit: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/win/. Those without internet access should call the COVID hotline at 877-435-8411 to provide your information and verbal consent.

COVID-19 IN ATCHISON COUNTY

8-16-21

FATALITIES 13

ACTIVE CASES 39

CASES REMOVED

FROM ISOLATION 492

TOTAL CASES 544

MALE 250

FEMALE 294

UNDER 20 YEARS 70

21-29 YEARS 49

30-39 YEARS 62