Monday night, Michele Bever, South Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD) director, reported 24 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in the prior seven days (April 27-May 3), bringing the cumulative number of cases in the four-county health district to 4,844. The new confirmed cases for the seven-day period were 18 in Adams County and 6 in Clay County. By county, the new cumulative totals are: 3,118 cases in Adams, 766 cases in Clay, 548 cases in Nuckolls and 412 cases in Webster.
Bever also reported the 14-day average of daily new cases is at 7.6 per 100,000 and has remained just under the district’s goal of 8 or less per 100,000 for the fifth day in a row. By county, the 14-day average of daily cases per 100,000 is 8.4 in Adams, 11.5 in Clay County, 0.0 in Nuckolls County and 2.0 in Webster County.
“Overall, this is good news for our 4-county region,” Bever said. “But we’d like to see all four counties get below the target 14-day average of 8 cases per 100,000 and sustain it there.”
Bever noted that after being below 8 new cases per 100,000 for 24 days in a row, Clay County crept up above the goal and has remained there for the past nine days. Adams County has remained above the target for all but 3 of the past 33 days. “Nuckolls’ and Webster’s low average numbers of new cases per 100,000 are helping to bring the overall rate down for the district,” she said.
Bever encouraged residents to help keep the trends improving by getting vaccinated. “The COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting COVID-19, which can have serious, life-threatening consequences. Plus, getting a COVID-19 vaccine will help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19,” she said.
According to SHDHD’s 47 percent of the district’s residents eligible for a vaccine have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 38 percent of eligible residents have completed their 1 or 2 dose series and will be considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the final dose of the series. Bever said seventy-five percent of residents age 65+ are fully vaccinated.
By county, 38.2 percent of eligible Adams County residents are fully vaccinated, 36.1 percent of eligible Clay County residents, 39.4 percent of eligible Nuckolls County residents and 40.3 percent of eligible Webster County residents.
“As more of us get vaccinated, this helps us get back to normal. After you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing more – like gathering safely indoors without masks with others who are fully vaccinated,” she said.
“Our extended families all got vaccinated so we could gather safely to celebrate my father-in-law’s 100th birthday in Indiana last month. Many of us had not seen each other for a year or more because of COVID restrictions,” Bever said. “It was so wonderful to be together to celebrate this momentous occasion.”
Admist all the negative news associated with COVID-19, Rebecca Weber, CEO of the Association of Mature American Citizens, found some good news and paraphrased Winston Churchill when she said, “ if the end is not in sight, perhaps the beginning of the end is approaching.
She noted vaccinations have begun to make progress in containing the disease.
Deborah Fuller, said we can look forward to “an amazing toolbox to use to combat infectious disease for a long time to come.” For example, Fuller, a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said progress is being made in the development of non-injectable vaccines that, might be delivered through the nose or swallowed in pill form.
Meanwhile, the vaccines currently available are doing their job. Natalie Dean, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, said they have really exceeded expectations in so many ways, and are an enormous value that they can not only keep you from getting sick but also keep you from transmitting to others. Nothing is 100 percent, but I think people can understand the big reduction and the value of that. It changes how I think about what I want to do in a big way. The latest positive development in the race to conquer the COVID virus was reported just days ago when Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced a pill that treats symptoms of the disease could be available to the public by the end of the year. It means that you may not have to go to a hospital for treatment, unlike current injectable medications.
And, Oravax Medical, a medical technology developer, is poised to begin clinical trials for an oral vaccine sometime as early as this summer.
The Centers for Disease Control [CDC] has issued new guidelines easing up on the need for masks for fully vaccinated individuals in outdoor spaces although the CDC recommends wearing masks in outdoor spaces that are densely populated.
In addition, the CDC has said those who are fully vaccinated no longer require testing before and after a trip unless the authorities at the destination require it. Nor will vaccinated travelers in the U.S. need to self-quarantine upon their return.
As for international travel, if you are fully vaccinated you will no longer need to be tested before your trip unless authorities at your destination require it; and, you will not have to self-quarantine when you come home, although you are urged to have a test before returning.
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