Updated: Thursday, 8:09 a.m.
A cluster of new cases reported by the City-Cowley County Health Department this week involve employees of Rubbermaid in Winfield, according to a company spokesperson Thursday morning.
Newell Brands, the umbrella company for Rubbermaid based in Atlanta, Georgia, returned an email inquiry sent by KSOK-NewsCow regarding reports of new cases involving employees at the Rubbermaid plant in Winfield.
“Employees were notified that five individuals have confirmed cases of COVID-19,” stated Danielle Clark of Newell Brands’ corporate communications office. “These are the only confirmed cases in the facility.
“The well-being of our employees is unequivocally our number one priority. We’ve implemented a number of additional safety measures to keep our employees safe during the pandemic, including providing masks, taking temperatures of employees upon arrival, stringent visitor protocols and screenings, zero contact and safe distancing measures, enhanced cleaning procedures and emergency paid sick days.”
From Wednesday:
The City-Cowley County Health Department reported five new cases of COVID-19 in Cowley County Wednesday afternoon, according to a news release from the health department.
The new cases are all connected to the most recent cluster reported by the health department Monday.
“The new cases are all connected to the most recent disease outbreak that began on May 29,” the release said. “Additional testing is continuing. To assist the health department in testing, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has provided additional testing tools to the local health department.
“Local employers are working closely with the health department to help identify any close contacts and arrange for employees to be tested. All identified people with the virus are being quarantined. To date, none have required hospitalization.”
Those employers were not named, however, Cowley County Public Health Officer Thomas Langer told KSOK-NewsCow Monday that none of the new cases in this cluster are connected to Creekstone Farms Premium Beef — a meat processing plant in Ark City. One employee tested positive there in early May, but no additional cases there have been reported since.
Langer said indications are that this current outbreak is associated an individual who traveled to a party in Ford County with widespread COVID-19 infection ongoing.
According to the latest report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment released Wednesday, Ford County — which hosts National Beef in Dodge City — has the most cases in the state with 1,804.
It is not known to KSOK-NewsCow if the individual who traveled to Ford County had any association with National Beef.
Since a national emergency proclamation was issued by the White House on March 13, the City-Cowley County Health Department has now confirmed 17 positive cases, but two of those cases involved individuals who either live out of the county or have dual-residency in another county. Those records have been transferred to their respective county health departments and the official count for Cowley County is now 15.
An Ark City man who tested positive April 1 died a week later and remains the only death in the county connected to the virus.
“The number is expected to increase,” Langer said in Wednesday’s news release from the health department. “All residents are reminded to take all the required precautions to prevent the spread of illness and exercise caution when interacting in public situations.”
The City-Cowley County Health Department has tested 630 people as of Monday since March.
Cowley County has a population of 34,908 people as of July 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Kansas surpassed 10,000 cases according to Monday’s KDHE report.
With Wednesday’s new KDHE numbers, there are now 10,170 positive cases of COVID-19 across Kansas, 890 hospitalizations, 222 deaths, and 97,833 negative tests.
Sedgwick County reports 598 cases, Butler County has 39 and Sumner County counts eight.
KDHE updates its numbers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The state of Oklahoma stopped releasing overall state numbers as of May 31 and are now only reporting county cases. At last count, 6,573 cases were reported statewide in Oklahoma.
Kay County, Oklahoma, reports 57 cases and remains at seven deaths.
