COVID-19 persists in rural counties

By Reed Anfinson
Publisher
With 171 new COVID-19 cases, October 2021 was the third highest month for infections since the first case was diagnosed in the county April 6, 2020.
November 2020 holds the record with 368 cases with December 2020 second at 184.
This past summer, it appeared the disease was fading with only four cases reported in Swift County in June and seven in July. However, as the new highly infectious Delta variant began spreading, case numbers began to jump.
The Delta variant is also behind the rise in breakthrough cases of COVID-19 among those who have already been vaccinated. Vaccines do not offer 100% protection against COVID-19 but both the Pfizer vaccine and Moderna vaccines do provide 94% to 95% protection. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 66% effective in preventing disease.
However, all three vaccines have proven to make breakthrough COVID-19 cases relatively mild.
“The patients we have in our hospitals are really critically ill and they are spending a long time in the hospital,” Dr. Cindy Firkins Smith, vice president of rural health at Carris Health, told the Swift County Health Services Governing Board at its meeting Oct. 25. Those patients who are critically ill all have one thing in common, Firkins Smith said. “Those patients are universally not vaccinated. The data is completely clear.”