Expected COVID-19 decline did not happen in November

ontrol projected new U.S. COVID cases would decline in November. Instead nationally the cases have surged about 30 percent.

It is a disappointing development. Almost two years after COVID began spreading, it is still here. It didn’t go away in the spring of 2020 like many local people expected. It is again creating anxiety as Americans gather for the holidays. While many people are gathering today for the traditional family Thanksgiving, others are staying home.

The virus appears to be unpredictable. Last winter the number of cases nationally peaked in early January and plummeted about 75 percent by late February.

For most people, the vaccines remain remarkably effective in turning COVID into a manageable illness that’s less dangerous than some everyday activities but vaccination rates in our local counties continue to be below the goals set by our health departments.

On Monday, the New York Times published a report indicating the total number of cases in our counties, the number of deaths and the number of new cases confirmed. We are a little uncertain of the time frame portion of the report covers but the numbers show how our various counties are responding to the pandemic. The first number is the total number of confirmed cases, the second is the number of new cases in an undefined time frame and the third number is the number of deaths attributed to the virus.

The Times did not indicate how the information was gathered.

The Nebraska numbers by county: Nuckolls 675, 6 and 12; Webster, 521, 2 and 8; Fillmore, 730, 2 and 13; Thayer, 739, 2 and 7; Clay 1015, 5 and 17.

The Kansas numbers by county: Jewell, 547, 5 and 11; Smith, 442, 4 and 3; Osborne, 490, 7 and 15; Mitchell, 868, 1 and 17; Republic, 927, 3 and 14; Cloud, 1,564, 16 and 30.

Because of the local surge in number Mary Lanning Hospital has decided to limit visitors to one per patient.

Eric Barber, the hospital’s administrator, said it was not done as a punishment. “We have to ensure our local hospital is available to take care of you when you need us. In order to do that, we need to have some help from the community.”

Michele Bever, South Heartland Health District director, said hospitals in Adams, Clay, Nuckolls and Webster counties are continuing to report an aggregate high census of COVID patients. On Monday there were 19 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 which was 53 percent of all inpatients.

The health district logged 193 COVID-19 cases for the week ending Saturday and had a 31 percent increase in the number of COVID tests conducted last week compared to the previous week. The district reported another 52 confirmed positive cases on Monday bringing the cumulative total since the beginning of the pandemic to 7,006.