In updated guidance, Portage County health leaders urge vaccination and strongly recommend masks indoors

Laura Frost, Emergency Department Assistant Nurse Manager at UH Portage Medical Center, receiving the hospital’s first non-trial Covid-19 vaccination. Submitted photo/UH Portage

In updated guidance, Portage County health leaders urge vaccination and strongly recommend masks indoors

- Ben Wolford

Responding to a “rapid rise” of confirmed Covid-19 cases, the Portage County health department and Kent city officials urged residents to resume precautions that had been largely abandoned after the winter wave and encouraged unvaccinated people to “please reconsider.”

Only 48% of Portage County residents have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. Disease experts say this low rate leaves the community vulnerable to the highly contagious Delta variant, which is now driving a sudden rise in Covid infections here.

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