Lyon County (Kan.) declared a local emergency Jan. 7 after Newman Regional Hospital ran out of ventilators, The Kansas City Star reported.
The Lyon County Board of County Commissioners said the Emporia, Kan.-based hospital requested two additional ventilators, and an emergency declaration enables them to receive the resources from the state's emergency operations center. The Lyon County Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard showed 481 active cases and eight hospitalizations as of Jan. 7
The move came a day after Gov. Laura Kelly issued a 15-day statewide disaster declaration and signed two executive orders that relax certain regulations to support more flexible staffing at hospitals and nursing homes.
Statewide, data last updated Jan. 7 showed more than 16,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported since Jan. 5. Thirty-seven new deaths and 97 new hospitalizations were reported in the same time period.