Riley County continues downward trend of COVID cases in February

Savannah Rattanavong, The Manhattan Mercury, Kan.
·2 min read

Feb. 27—As the month of February nears its end, the number of new COVID cases reported in Riley County each week has slowly declined.

While testing has dipped some, from about 2,800 tests a week to 2,000 the last few weeks, the rate of positive tests has remained below 5% for four weeks in a row.

Riley County spokeswoman Alice Massimi said it is difficult to completely attribute the lower numbers to more people being vaccinated in the county, though it likely plays a role.

The Riley County Health Department said Friday it has vaccinated about 8,500 residents, which includes healthcare workers, emergency responders, children and care center workers, and adults over 65. The health department reported that 5,355 people have received one dose and 3,520 have been fully vaccinated.

Massimi said the trend also may be influenced because of people who have previously contracted the virus building up a natural immunity.

"We were honestly kind of shocked that numbers didn't go up at all after the Super Bowl and after all the students came back," she said, "but I think that (it's because) we're vaccinating people and I think it's also that a lot of people had it in the fall when then numbers were high, so they built up that immunity to it. We're kind of moving from there."

After Friday's COVID report, the county has reported a total of 251 new cases since Feb. 1, making its total count 6,185 since March 2020.

It recorded a February high of 68 cases in a single report on Feb. 1, and most of the following reports recorded new cases in the twenties and tens. The two most recent updates on Wednesday and Friday reported single-digit increases of nine and eight, respectively.

Massimi said local health officials are being "cautiously optimistic" about the downward trend. On Wednesday, county health department director Julie Gibbs issued new health regulations, effective Monday, eliminating most of the restrictions for businesses and gatherings. Masks will still be required in public spaces in Riley County.

The restrictions being eliminated include a ban on dancing in bars, a mass gathering limit of 50 people, a requirement that restaurants and bars close at midnight, and that customers be seated to get served at bars.

"One of the things is we didn't want to just roll back the restrictions as soon as (rates) stated to drop," Massimi said. "We wanted to make sure it was a trend, so we've seen for weeks now that the percent positive cases are less than 5% so we're confident that's kind of where they're going to stay."

Massimi emphasized that even with these trends, people should continue to maintain mask wearing habits, as well as practice physical distancing and regular hand hygiene.