North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) has been made aware of 17 new cases in the district since the last reporting on 1/28/2021: 1-Antelope; 1-Boyd; 0-Brown; 1-Cherry; 5-Holt; 0-Keya Paha; 3-Knox; 6-Pierce; 0-Rock.
North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) would like to apprise the district of the Nebraska COVID-19 vaccine registry, located at www.ncdhd.ne.gov. To provide guidance and clarity, below are directions on who should register on the Nebraska COVID-19 Registry:
- For those 65+ who already registered with NCDHD, do not sign up with the State. NCDHD will continue to schedule your vaccine. If you are 65+ and did not sign up with NCDHD, please sign up on the new Nebraska registry, located at www.ncdhd.ne.gov.
- If you registered on the NCDHD vaccine list but are not over the age of 65, you will need to register on the new Nebraska registry, located at www.ncdhd.ne.gov.
- If you are interested in the COVID-19 vaccine, all ages and all professions are welcome to sign up on the new Nebraska registration. The governor’s tiered phasing guidance will still be utilized to determine who is vaccinated first.
The speed of vaccine disbursement depends on vaccine availability. Below is a tentative timeline for district COVID-19 vaccinations:
- Mid-January to Mid-May: 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 in grocery stores, food processing facilities, utilities, transportation, and postal service.
- Mid-April to May: Phase 1C- Vaccines will be allocated to those in congregate settings.
- May to October: Phase 2 – Vaccine will be made available to the public.
- There are a couple NCDHD survey sign-ups located on at www.ncdhd.ne.gov that NCDHD will continue to utilize. If an individual was in Phase1A and did not receive the vaccine but is now interested, please complete the Phase1A survey. If an individual is unable to make the second dose appointment, which is located on the back of the vaccine card, please complete the unable to make second dose survey and we will work to find you a different 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.
On January 29, 2021, Governor Ricketts announced Nebraska’s transition from “blue” to the “green” phase of Nebraska’s COVID-19 response plan. The COVID-19 response plan links restrictions in the Directed Health Measures (DHMs) to the percentage of staffed Nebraska hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. The 7-day rolling average of hospitalized COVID-10 patients fell under 10%, which is the “green” phase marker. This is not necessarily a risk assessment for the NCDHD district, but a reflection of the current State DHM color.
New DHMs, effective Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 12:01AM until February 28, 2021 at 11:59PM, include the following change:
- The maximum capacity for indoor gatherings, including youth extracurricular activities, goes from 75% to 100%.
o Organizers of gatherings of 500 or more people (1,000 or more in Douglas County), must still submit a reopening plan to their local health department—and receive approval—before holding their events. Aside from this requirement, there are no restrictions on gatherings/venues in the “green” phase of the State’s plan. However, guidance is still in place and recommended.
Quarantine requirements in the DHMs have been updated to include:
- Nebraskans who’ve been fully vaccinated (received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine) do not have to quarantine after a close contact. Instead, they will be in the “self-monitor” category, which involves wearing a mask for 14 days from the date of exposure and monitoring for symptoms.
- Nebraskans who have recovered from the coronavirus in the past three months do not need to quarantine after a close contact, though they’re encouraged to monitor for symptoms.
- The new DHMs also amend the definition of “close contact” to clarify that exposures start 48 hours prior to the onset of symptoms or positive test.
To view the DHMs, visit www.ncdhd.ne.gov and click on the photo of Governor Ricketts.
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 1:30-3:30 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 02/01/2021 at 4:00 PM: 4,144 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: 539, R: 292, D:7
Boyd: TC: 183, R: 110, D:3
Brown: TC 270, R: 159, D:4
Cherry: TC: 401, R: 252, D:7
Holt: TC: 804, R: 517, D: 14
Keya Paha: TC: 43, R: 15, D: 0
Knox: TC: 1,073, R: 565, D: 10
Pierce: TC: 683, R: 404, D: 20
Rock: TC: 148, R: 95, D:2