HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Health Department says it will extend the health order for the county when it expires on Friday.
This comes after Reno County commissioners entertained the idea of removing some or all of the health order during next Tuesday’s meeting.
“What we’re going to do is go ahead and we’re going to put the health order through,” Karen Hammersmith with the Health Department said. “It’s our responsibility to really let people know what’s going on in the community.”
Hammersmith said that if commissioners want to take the proposed action, that’s on them.
“If the elected officials want to take that upon themselves, then that’s their right to do that.”
Hammersmith was hit with a barrage of questions and accusations, mostly by interim county commissioner Mark Steffen, about accuracy of testing and how hospitals and the Health Department are dealing with the pandemic.
“Our job as public health is to let them know what’s going on and to give advice,” Hammersmith said. “We’re getting it from people working on the front lines. This isn’t just what I as the health officer believes, this is working with a collaboration of physicians and looking at what’s going on, on the front lines.”
Hammersmith was asked by county commissioners regarding a recent article that said the way labs test for COVID was leading to a 20% false positive rate. Hammersmith addressed that Tuesday.
“We’ve heard the argument all along,” Hammersmith said, stating that comparing lab test for COVID would be comparing apples to oranges.
Hammersmith also refuted claims that no more people are dying of COVID than any other ailment. She provided the numbers from the hospital to the county commission:
“In October we had 21 deaths. The highest that had been in October in the last five years were nine,” Hammersmith said. “In November we had 32 deaths. The highest in November before was seven. And I guarantee you that December is going to be right there with November.”
Hammersmith said working with hospital staff and seeing what's happening on the front lines is very taxing on staff.