By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Board of Reno County Commissioners made clear Tuesday there is a specific course of action they want the public to take to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
"It seems like everybody that has the vaccine is handling it very well and has not been in the hospital," said commissioner Daniel Friesen. "It seems like the government has created the right opportunity for people to protect themselves. I'm not sure I agree that the government should be involved in other restrictions, given you have the opportunity to keep yourself out of the hospital, simply by getting the vaccine."
It is with that spirit that the commission would like to set its own parameters for when restrictions are put in place in the county and not just take the approach of completely following KDHE guidance, which is subject to change based on statewide trends. Health Department director Karla Nichols noted that it's likely that guidance will change anyway soon.
"KDHE told us yesterday they are still looking at updated guidance before school starts," Nichols said Tuesday. "They are telling us it is still under review. They will probably be updating it in the next couple of weeks."
The commissioners want to get out in front of the issue if at all possible, though, so they are asking the Health Department to give them something to consider at their next meeting.
"We should take care of ourselves," Friesen said. "They're trying to apply one policy across the entire state. That clearly didn't work last time and probably won't work this time. I think we need to take your recommendations, take the health department's recommendations. They need to bring them to us and as the county board of public health, we need to make our own decision."
The commissioners had a consensus that they want to see Reno County specific recommendations. Their next meeting is August 10.