Additional COVID-19 cases have been popping up in western Kansas and a store in Garden City is believed to be the source of several cases being reported there.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 17 counties in western Kansas are now reporting one or more confirmed COVID-19 cases, with the following counties reporting multiple COVID-19 cases: Finney (17), Ford (16), Seward (6) and Barton (4).
The Finney County Health Department reported Monday that people who shopped at Tienda Variedades Candy, 107 N. Jennie Barker Rd., Garden City, between March 16 and March 30, may have been exposed to coronavirus. Multiple people in Finney County who shopped at the store during that time have since become ill and tested positive for COVID-19.
The store has been closed since March 30, but anyone who shopped at the store on or before that date who has developed symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste and/or smell – are being advised to stay home and contact the Finney County Health Department at 620-272-3600 to be appropriately screened.
Other counties in western Kansas reporting one or more cases include Osborne, Stafford, Pratt, Barber, Phillips, Rooks, Ellis, Gove, Scott, Hamilton, Stanton, Morton and Stevens.
As of Monday morning, there were 1,376 cases reported statewide, with 309 hospitalizations and 62 deaths.