Hastings, Neb – In the weekly COVID-19 update on January 11, South
Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD) reported daily records of
new COVID-19 cases on Monday and Tuesday. SHDHD also reported logging
increased numbers of cases associated with long-term care facilities in
the past two weeks.
Executive Director Michele Bever said the department is receiving record
numbers of reports confirming COVID-19 infections in the four-county
health district. On Monday and Tuesday, there were 106 and 114 positive
lab reports, respectively, for a total of 220 new cases in the first two
days of the week. This compares to a total of 265 cases for all of the
previous week and 142 for the week prior to that. The previous record
daily count was 89 cases, during the fall surge over a year ago, on
November 30, 2020.
Some of the new cases are associated with long-term care facilities,
where residents are at higher risk of severe illness, hospitalization
and death due to age and underlying health conditions. Bever said in the
past two weeks, 9 resident cases and 24 staff cases of COVID-19 were
reported from 8 affected facilities. The weekly positivity in long-term
care facilities increased from very low (<0.5%) through the month of
December to 4.2% for the week ending January 8.
Community transmission of the virus in the four-county district
continues to worsen, based on the weekly test positivity levels and the
rolling 7-day average of new cases per 100,000 people. Community
positivity was 43.7% for the week ending January 8. Overall positivity
(which includes long term care surveillance testing) increased to 27.9%.
Positivity of 10% or more is considered high community transmission.
In Adams County, weekly community positivity rose to 50%, meaning half
of the individuals who got tested were positive for SARS-CoV-2. In the
other three counties, community positivity ranged from 30%-34%, meaning
about one in every three people who got tested were infected.
The rate of new cases in the district also jumped dramatically, from 398
per 100,000 for the seven days ending last Tuesday to 821 new cases per
100,000 for the most recent 7 days ending Tuesday, January 11, more than
doubling in one week. South Heartland has recorded 8,339 confirmed
infections since the beginning of the pandemic.
Due to the high volume of cases, most people who test positive will not
be receiving a call from the health department. Instead, individuals may
receive an informational text from SHDHD or from Nebraska DHHS. All are
encouraged to visit southheartlandhealth.org for guidance regarding
isolation and quarantine, testing resources and vaccine information.
SHDHD’s hospital dashboard indicated 36% of staffed ICU beds available
and an aggregate census of eight COVID-19 inpatients as of Tuesday
morning’s hospital reports. The percent of hospital inpatients that were
COVID-19 positive was 20%.
“This surge in cases does not bode well for our residents who are at
higher risk or for our local and state health systems, which are already
over-burdened with patients and experiencing staff shortages,” Bever
said. “When community transmission is high, more people who are
medically vulnerable are affected.”
“High transmission also drives more errors – mutations - when many, many
copies of the virus are being made. Mutations can lead to additional
variants that might be even more highly transmissible, cause more severe
illness, or be less responsive to our available treatments,” she said.
“What we can do in our communities, is to double-down on efforts to
reduce spread of the virus,” Bever said.
The health department recommends using multiple layers of prevention to
reduce the risk of infection, severe illness, hospitalization and death,
including:
Getting fully vaccinated and boosted
Getting tested before attending indoor gatherings, especially around
individuals who are at higher risk of severe infection.
Avoiding crowded places or confined indoor spaces
Staying home when you have symptoms
Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth in public indoor settings
Washing hands frequently
Keeping 6 feet distance from others
If you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, getting tested before
being around others.
The health department is encouraging South Heartland residents to get
fully-vaccinated and boosted as soon as they are eligible. Residents may
contact their personal doctor or the health department if they have
questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, additional doses for
immunocompromised individuals, booster doses, or COVID-19 testing.
COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for anyone 5 years and older. For
locations of COVID-19 tests or COVID-19 vaccine, refer to the SHDHD
website, southheartlandhealth.org
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