Webster County Public Health Reports Another Covid-19 Increase Monday Evening

Webster County Public Health released the following covid-19 update Monday Evening. The update is below.

Webster County’s total positive COVID-19 cases has risen to 262. This is an increase of 71 from our last report of 191 on last Wednesday. Age breakdowns for individuals are as follows: 17 children (0-17), 129 adults (18-40), 73 middle age adults (41-60), 38 older adults (61-80), and five elderly (81+). Recovery numbers will be available later this week.

Please know that while the state has opened up and many of us want to feel that COVID-19 is over and life can go back to normal, unfortunately the virus is still very much in our communities. Webster County Public Health continues to implore residents to:

• Practice social distancing by maintaining a distance of at least six feet between you and others that you are not co-exposed to.

• Protect one another by wearing a mask in places where social distancing is difficult to maintain.

• Keep gatherings small and outdoors to reduce exposure risks.

• If you have symptoms, aren’t feeling well, are a positive case, or live with a positive case, please stay home.

• Continue to cover coughs and sneezes and practice frequent hand-washing and cleaning of surfaces.

**On Monday, the Iowa Department of Corrections announced 39 COVID-19 positive inmates and eight staff members at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility following mass testing that was completed by Webster County Public Health department on July 2. The 39 positive inmates do count towards Webster County’s overall total COVID positive numbers as the inmates are considered to be residents of the county. The positives for each of the eight staff members will count to the county of their permanent home address.

*** The state’s website currently shows 225 positive cases in Webster County. Webster County Public Health has confirmed our case count. The state’s web site takes time to catch up, but it will. We are blessed in our community to have multiple testing options, including rapid testing at Community Health Center, available to us outside of national labs.