North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) has been made aware of 19 new cases in the district since the last reporting on 1/25/2021: 4-Antelope; 0-Boyd; 0-Brown; 4-Cherry; 5-Holt; 1-Keya Paha; 3-Knox; 2-Pierce; 0-Rock.
NCDHD regrets to report two Knox County COVID-19 deaths: one woman in his 70s and one male in his 90s. NCDHD sends condolences to the families.
NCDHD is pleased to report 152 new recoveries in the district since the last reporting on 1/21/2021: 17-Antelope; 19-Boyd; 15-Brown; 22-Cherry; 29- Holt; 0-Keya Paha; 21-Knox; 25-Pierce; 4-Rock.
As of today, 4,390 doses of Modern COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the NCDHD region, 3,700 of those being first doses. If anyone, at any age, is interested the COVID-19 vaccine, visit www.ncdhd.ne.gov to complete the appropriate survey. There are additional surveys for those in Phase1A who want their first dose and for anyone unable to make their second dose appointment. 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 is currently in Phase1B, providing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to individuals 75 years and older. 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:
· 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: Tuesdays from 1:00pm-3:00pm at the Rock County Fairgrounds
· 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 1:00-3:30 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 1/28/2021 at 4:00 PM: 4,127 Total Cases (TC), 2,411 Recoveries (R), 67 Deaths (D), and 124 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: 538, R: 292, D:7
Boyd: TC: 182, R: 110, D:3
Brown: TC 270, R: 159, D:4
Cherry: TC: 400, R: 252, D:7
Holt: TC: 799, R: 517, D: 14
Keya Paha: TC: 43, R: 15, D: 0
Knox: TC: 1,070, R: 565, D: 10
Pierce: TC: 677, R: 404, D: 20
Rock: TC: 148, R: 95, D:2