Howard County has recorded its first death attributed to COVID-19. The Howard County Public Health Department made the announcement late Friday afternoon Sept. 4. The health department also announced that 29 new cases had been confirmed while 18 cases were removed from the total as they were considered recovered.

There has been some confusion among residents here regarding numbers reported as positive coronavirus cases throughout Howard County and Central Methodist University. In an effort to assemble accurate numbers, the Fayette Advertiser has been in contact with both the Howard County Public Health Department and CMU.

County residents have shown substantial uncertainty with discrepancies between the numbers reported by the health department and those reported by CMU. The health department actively reports positive cases here in Howard County and includes any CMU students and staff who test positive and who also reside in the county. University staff and students who test positive, but who leave the county to quarantine, are not counted in local statistics. The county health department frequently posts updated numbers on its Facebook page.

Of 43 students who were listed as positive cases Thursday on the university’s website, fewer than half were in CMU’s recovery center. Twenty-three were recovering at home and were therefore not included in local health department numbers.

There has also been a lag in numbers reported by CMU to the health department, according to Michelle Reynolds, interim administrator of the Howard County Public Health Department. Central Methodist reports positive cases on its website, but only updates those numbers once a week. It does, however, send reports five days a week to faculty, staff, and students. Those daily reports are not communicated to the county department of health or members of the public. Requests by this newspaper for those daily reports have been denied. However, sources inside the university have made them available to the Fayette Advertiser. 

Ms. Reynolds told the Fayette Advertiser on Friday that while most of the positive cases can be attributed to Central Methodist, she reserved her concern since younger people have proven to tolerate the disease and its effects much better than older people. She also credits the aggressive manner in which the university is fighting the spread. “I understand the county’s concern because there have been more positive cases,” she said.

Ms. Reynolds also explained that of the county's total positive cases, about one-third were asymptomatic, which means the infected person had no symptoms or other signs of the disease. Around two-thirds of those who tested positive displayed flu-like symptoms, including sore throats and fevers.

Recent spikes in positive cases reported can also be, at least partially, attributed to delayed results from testing laboratories. While testing at Central Methodist yields more immediate results, other labs may report a surge in the number of positive cases. Results from testing that has occurred over a period of up to one week may be all released at once. Those sorts of delays give rise to more dramatic changes in the reported cases.

“This disease is not going to go away. It’s part of us now” said Ms. Reynolds. She said the biggest hopes to realize firm control of the coronavirus lies in either herd immunity or a vaccine, which could be approved as soon as late October. Some health care professionals suggest herd immunity would be achieved when around 60% of the human population has contracted and recovered from the disease. Other conservative estimates suggest the same result would occur with an infection rate of around 30 to 40%.

But herd immunity can happen in smaller groups, such as athletic teams. While the university adamantly refuses to divulge any information on positive cases or quarantines involving its athletes, sources have confirmed that members of soccer, baseball, and football teams have been quarantined.

“We will not disclose quarantine or positive test information by sport,” said a university spokesman.

Testing of all university teams was performed again last week. No athletes were allowed to return to team activities until tested. Results of that wave of tests were not made available. In addition, a second wave of testing for all students is underway.

“Central is taking appropriate steps for the campus and the community by quarantining students who may have had exposure to a positive case,” the spokesman said.

CMU last week announced the postponement of opening games for men’s soccer and football. As reported by Sports Editor Jeff Yoder in the Sept. 2 edition of the Fayette Advertiser, the schedule changes come after “contact tracing and cautionary quarantine procedures were enacted,” according to the announcement from the athletic department.

“This decision was made out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our student-athletes,” Heart of America Athletic Conference Commissioner Lori Thomas said. “The conference and teams are adhering to the outlined guidelines in the Heart Promise.”

The two-time defending national champion Eagle men’s soccer team was scheduled to begin the season with matches against Concordia on Sept. 5 and at Oklahoma Wesleyan on Sept. 9. The rescheduled dates for both games have not been announced.

The CMU football team was set to host Grand View for the first game of the season on Sept. 12. Instead, the game will be played on Oct. 10, which was originally a bye week for the Eagles.

One major difference in reporting between the county health department and the university is the duration of quarantine for positive cases. Ms. Reynolds explained that the department allows for those who have tested positive for the coronavirus to come off of quarantine after 10 days as long as symptoms have subsided or improved. The university mandates that quarantines last for a full 14 days. It has also taken an aggressive approach to containing the spread of the disease by placing on quarantine those who are suspected of exposure.

The Centers for Disease Control on Aug. 16 stated that available data indicate that persons with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after symptom onset.

Ms. Reynolds did confirm that of CMU’s positive case count of 45 on Thursday, listed on the university’s website, 10 of those were removed by Friday, dropping the total positive cases on campus to 35 by the weekend. She suggests that anyone worried about the spread of the disease in Howard County should contact the health department at (660) 248-3100. She stressed that while young people are showing a resilience against the coronavirus, it is of utmost importance to protect high-risk people. That includes those of advanced age, those who have pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and those who are obese.

“This virus is more contagious than the flu, but less contagious than the measles,” she explained.

Ms. Reynolds also warned against further lockdowns, which she said only delays the inevitable. Instead, she advocates for the responsibility of individuals to keep their immune systems strong. Ways to do so include healthy eating, exercising, and getting enough sleep.