North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) has been made aware of 77 new cases in the district since the last reporting on 12/28: 7-Antelope; 0-Boyd; 7-Brown; 4-Cherry; 30-Holt; 1-Keya Paha; 19-Knox; 8-Pierce; 1-Rock.
NCDHD regrets to report two additional COVID-19 deaths in the district: one Cherry County male in his 70s and one Knox County male in his 80s. NCDHD extends its sincerest condolences to the families.
NCDHD is pleased to report 138 additional recoveries since the last reporting on 12/24: 18-Antelope; 4-Boyd; 6-Brown; 15-Cherry; 25-Holt; 1-Keya Paha; 30-Knox; 36-Pierce; 3-Rock.
NCDHD wishes the district a happy and healthy holiday season. Please remember the 3 C’s to reduce the spread of COVID-19: avoiding close contacts, confined spaces, and crowded places. NCDHD’s physical office will be closed January 1st, for general COVID-19 questions call the Nebraska COVID-19 Hotline at 402-552-6645.
Over Christmas week, NCDHD received its first doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. As of December 31st, 784 north central Nebraska residents received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. NCDHD is following the state vaccination plan and allocating vaccines in phases. The first vaccines were allocated to Phase 1A individuals providing direct patient care and/or are exposed to infectious materials which includes: healthcare personnel in hospitals, home health care, pharmacies, EMS, outpatient, public health, long-term care facility residents and staff. NCDHD will continue working with Phase 1A partners until all qualifying individuals receive their vaccinations. When NCDHD transitions to other phases, the public will be made aware:
Phase 1B- Vaccine will be allocated to those in the education sector, food/agricultural, utilities, transportation, and first responders.
Phase 1C- Vaccines will be allocated to those 65 years of age and over, vulnerable populations (disabled, homeless, etc.), and those in congregate settings (incarcerated, colleges/universities, etc.).
Phase 2 – Vaccine will be made available to the public.
NCDHD is following the Nebraska COVID-19 Vaccination Plan: http://dhhs.ne.gov/Documents/COVID-19-Vaccination-Plan.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0y0I1EIlG2MWjTcl8aysLfNVLJFEZyL5qAI1bDE–D3aD7oJ2hdrVoBuQ.
NCDHD COVID-19 testing sites offer a 15-minute rapid test and/or the gold standard PCR test. The rapid test is only offered to individuals who are currently exhibiting symptoms associated with COVID.
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 which is located at the corner of 4th and Hynes Ave.
· Bassett: Normally on 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. Testing will not be held January 1st.
Case count update as of 12/31/2020 at 4:00 PM: 3,761 Total Cases (TC), 1,771 Recoveries (R), 57 Deaths (D), and 267 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: 505, R:215, D: 5
Boyd: TC: 170, R: 77, D:3
Brown: TC 266, R: 99, D: 4
Cherry: TC: 380, R: 175, D:6
Holt: TC: 731, R: 392, D: 13
Keya Paha: TC: 41, R: 8, D: 0
Knox: TC: 907, R: 426, D: 6
Pierce: TC: 623, R: 297, D:19
Rock: TC: 138, R: 82, D:1
North Central District overall moved back into the yellow risk dial. Cherry County remains in the orange. Risk dial will be discontinued and replaced with additional information on the dashboard in 2021. More information will be available on the NCDHD website: https://ncdhdne.wordpress.com/