By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The goal of keeping Reno County schools open is going to take a community effort.
"This isn't just a nursing home problem, it's a community problem," said Reno County Interim Health Officer Karen Hammersmith. "We have a 14.7% positive test rate. That's including all of the community testing that we've done with asymptomatic. If we didn't do that community testing, we would be at a much higher rate. We would be in the red already. We have bought time with the community testing. We still need to do that."
There is community testing Saturday at the Hutchinson Clinic at the 2107 building.
"That is from 9:00 in the morning until 11:30," Hammersmith said. "That's for asymptomatic patients. That's just a drive up. We also have community testing going on. I know they have one in Turon. They took appointments for that."
The Turon testing is at the City Maintenance Building from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
"We have community spread," Hammersmith said. "This is a community problem. We need to do all the things that we have mentioned throughout this entire process. We have to social distance. We have to wear a mask. We have to wash hands, all the same things that we've been saying."
The public is being encouraged to get tested whether you have symptoms or not. You can schedule an appointment for one of the testing sites in the coming days.
There will be community testing of both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals on Tuesday at Salt City Splash from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on Thursday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena West Parking Lot from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
In order to have enough supplies, they need you to call ahead for an appointment to 844-834-3657.