North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) has been made aware of 50 new cases in the district since the last reporting on 1/21/2021: 5-Antelope; 2-Boyd; 0-Brown; 4-Cherry; 7- Holt; 0-Keya Paha; 27-Knox; 3-Pierce; 2-Rock.
NCDHD regrets to report the COVID-19 death of a Knox County woman in her 90s. NCDHD sends its sincerest condolences to the family.
The NCDHD Test Nebraska COVID-19 clinic in Bassett will be canceled this Tuesday, January 26th due to weather concerns.
NCDHD transitioned into Phase1B to provide COVID-19 vaccine to individuals 75 years and older. If you believe you qualify for Phase 1A but were not vaccinated, please visit the NCDHD webpage and sign up on the appropriate survey. Visit the NCDHD website for sign-ups for individuals 75+, businesses in Phases 1B, and a survey for individuals in the general public who can receive a vaccine at a moment’s notice. If you have already received a vaccine and are unable to attend the second dose clinic, please visit the NCDHD website and place your information on the second dose survey. For assistance completing the survey, please call the following agencies in your area: Elgin Public Library, Elgin Senior Center, Neligh Public Library, Neligh Senior Center, Ainsworth Public Library, Ainsworth Senior Center, Boyd County Senior Center, Valentine Public Library, Valentine Senior Center, Stuart Township Library, Atkinson Public Library, Atkinson Senior Center, O’Neill Chamber of Commerce, Bloomfield Public Library, Creighton Public Library, Eastern Township Library, Lied Lincoln Township Library, Verdigre Public Library, Crofton Senior Center, Osmond General Hospital, Osmond Library, Plainview Library, Plainview Senior Center, Pierce Public Library, Pierce Senior Center, Rock County Public Library, and Rock County Senior Center. NCDHD recognizes federal partners added the 65 years and older and those with underlying health conditions categories into Phase 1B. The statewide registry will open for this demographic in the next week.
NCDHD will notify the public as NCDHD transitions to each phase. The speed of transition depends heavily on vaccine availability. Below is a tentative timeline for district COVID-19 vaccinations:
- Late December to Mid-January: Phase 1A- Healthcare personnel providing direct patient care and/or are exposed to infectious materials and long-term care facility staff and residents.
- Mid-January to Mid-April: Phase 1B- Vaccine will be allocated to those 75 years and older, 65 years and older, those with pre-existing conditions, first responders, those in the education sector, and those working with critical infrastructure (i.e. food/agriculture facilities, utilities, transportation, postal workers, etc.).
- Mid-April to May: Phase 1C- Vaccines will be allocated to vulnerable populations (disabled, homeless, etc.) and those in congregate settings (incarcerated, colleges/universities, etc.).
- May to October: Phase 2 – Vaccine will be made available to the public.
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 8:30-10:30am at the north parking lot of the O’Neill Armory, located at the corner of 4th and Hynes Ave.
- Bassett clinic is typically on Tuesdays from 1:00pm-3:00pm; however, January 26th clinic is cancelled due to weather.
- 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: Testing will be on Tuesdays at the Valentine United Methodist Church, located at 804 E. 5th St. Valentine, NE. Rapid tests are not available at this location. This test site in hosted by Cherry County Hospital.
Case count update as of 1/25/2021 at 4:00 PM: 4,108 Total Cases (TC), 2,259 Recoveries (R), 65 Deaths (D), and 189 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: 534, R: 275, D:7
Boyd: TC: 182, R: 91, D:3
Brown: TC 270, R: 144, D:4
Cherry: TC: 396, R: 232, D:7
Holt: TC: 794, R: 488, D: 14
Keya Paha: TC: 42, R: 15, D: 0
Knox: TC: 1,067, R: 544, D: 8
Pierce: TC: 675, R: 379, D: 20
Rock: TC: 148, R: 91, D:2