North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) has been made aware of 110 new cases in the district since the last reporting on 12/14: 7-Antelope; 5-Boyd; 9-Brown; 10-Cherry; 14-Holt; 2-Keya Paha; 50-Knox; 12-Pierce; 1-Rock.
NCDHD is pleased to announce 152 new recoveries since the last reporting on 12/10: 16-Antelope; 7-Boyd; 9-Brown; 15-Cherry; 28-Holt; 0-Keya Paha; 60-Knox; 17-Pierce; 0-Rock.
NCDHD’s physical office will be closed on December 24, 25, and January 1. For general COVID-19 questions call the Nebraska COVID-19 Hotline at 402-552-6645. NCDHD will not host testing clinics on December 23, 24, and 31.
Governor Ricketts laid out the threshold for Directed Health Measure (DHM) changes which are tied to the percentage of staffed hospital beds in Nebraska filled by coronavirus patients. On December 12, 2020 at 12:01am, Nebraska moved from the orange level, which is 20-24.99% coronavirus hospitalization rate, to the yellow level, which is 15-19.99%. As a result of the lower threshold, the DHMs relaxed in the below manner:
- The maximum capacity for indoor gatherings increased from 25% to 50%.
- Fan attendance at extracurricular activities—both school and club—is no longer limited to household members of participants; however, it is limited to 50% the rated occupancy.
- Parties at restaurants and bars remain limited to groups of 8 or less. Individuals must still be seated unless ordering food, using the restroom, or playing games. Six feet of separation between groups returns to a guidance.
- Masks are recommended, rather than required, for establishments such as childcare centers, salons, barber shops, massage therapists, and body art studios.
- Elective surgeries may resume in the event a hospital keeps 10% of its capacity available to treat coronavirus patients.
All testing is offered free of charge at the below locations:
- O’Neill: Monday- Thursday from 8:30am-10:30am in the north parking lot of the O’Neill Armory. The armory is located at the corner of 4th and Hynes Ave.
- Bassett: Tuesdays from 1:00pm-3:00pm at the Rock County Fair Grounds.
- Pre-registration for testing at www.testnebraska.com is highly encouraged, but not required.
- The last patient will be scheduled 15 minutes before the scheduled end of the clinic.
- Valentine: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1:30-3:30PM. Hosted by Cherry County Hospital but testing is at the Valentine United Methodist Church, located at 804 E. 5th St. Valentine, NE. Rapid tests are not available at this location.
Case count update as of 12/17/2020 at 4:00 PM: 3,494 Total Cases (TC), 1,445 Recoveries (R), 42 Deaths (D), and 554 total cases reported in the last 14 days. A reminder that Total Case (TC) numbers are represented first, and of those total cases the number of Recovered (R) persons is represented second, and total case related Deaths (D) is represented third.
Antelope: TC: 463, R:180, D: 4
Boyd: TC: 169, R: 69, D:2
Brown: TC 250, R: 86, D: 3
Cherry: TC: 367, R: 127, D:5
Holt: TC: 662, R: 320, D: 10
Keya Paha: TC: 40, R: 7, D: 0
Knox: TC: 825, R: 356, D: 3
Pierce: TC: 584, R: 221, D:14
Rock: TC: 134, R: 79, D:1