Webster County’s COVID-19 total rested at 262 Monday after another spike over the holiday weekend, amounting to an increase of 71 cases in five days.

That increase is the largest increase over less than a week that Webster County has seen since the pandemic began. The surge punctuated the month of June, after COVID-19 cases in the county more than quadrupled.

“Please know what while the state has opened up and many of us want to feel that COVID-19 is over and life can go back to normal, unfortunately the virus is still very much in our communities,” said Kelli Bloomquist, public information officer for Webster County Public Health.

The new cases in the county’s total include the 39 inmate cases identified at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.

Positive cases fall into the following age categories:

• Child (age 0-17): 17.

• Adult (age 18-40): 129.

• Middle age adult (age 41-60): 73.

• Older adult (age 61-80): 38.

• Elderly adult (81+): 5.

Webster County Public Health continues to implore residents to:

• Practice social distancing by maintaining a distance of at least six feet with others you do not live with.

• Protect others by wearing masks.

• Keep gatherings small and outdoors to reduce exposure risks.

• Stay home when not feeling well, after testing positive or when living with someone who is positive.

• Continue to cover coughs and sneezes and practice frequent hand-washing and cleaning of surfaces.