Kansas health officials said Wednesday that a variant of the COVID-19 virus has been detected in Cowley County. The P.1 variant is known to be more infectious, and may cause more severe disease.
It’s not known how widespread the variant may be, so free COVID-19 testing will be offered in Cowley County. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment will conduct the tests Saturday, May 1st from 9 a.m. to noon at the Cowley County Health and Safety Fair. That will be held at the Arkansas City Agri-Business Center at 712 West Washington Avenue.
A gift card of $25 will be offered for participation, and there will be one gift card per household for the first 100 families.
