North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) was made aware Monday of an additional positive COVID-19 case in Holt and Knox counties.
Through case investigation, it has been determined that there have been a high number of exposures from these cases. As investigations continue, close contacts are being identified, contacted and asked to quarantine.
NCDHD encourages residents and visitors of these counties to please exercise extra caution while in public. It is important that to practice good hand hygiene, mask-wearing when in public, and when not feeling well please stay home. NCDHD has also been made aware of an additional case in Pierce and Antelope counties. The Pierce County case investigation is currently ongoing.
The Antelope County case investigation is also ongoing, however close contacts have been contacted and asked to quarantine.
According to spokesperson Carol Doolittle, NCDHD would also like to report six (6) additional recoveries today. One (1) in Antelope County, and five (5) in Pierce County. NCDHD would also like to clarify a data entry error that occurred previously in a case announcement.
A previous case that was originally reported out to be for Pierce County was in error and is a Knox County case. Case count updates have been updated and reflect correctly across all platforms.
Based on monitoring trends in COVID -19 data, the North Central District Health Department jurisdiction will move to Phase IV of the Governor’s Directive Health Measure (DHM) starting August 1, 2020.
NCDHD’s jurisdiction includes the nine Nebraska counties of: Antelope, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox, Pierce and Rock.
“North Central District Health Department will continue to monitor the spread of this virus in our district and will actively work to provide the most up to date information for our communities in the health district. We continue to use science and data to make these determinations. Science and the collection of data is what will guide this office as we are dealing with this novel virus and its novel means of transmission. Transitioning from the Phase III of the DHM to Phase IV does not mean that personal responsibility for reducing virus transmission is to be ignored.
“I strongly encourage all citizens that may be feeling ill with COVID-19 symptoms and/or those that have been in close sustained contact with someone who is ill to take precautions and keep appropriate social distance.
“With everyone working together and being good neighbors to one another, we can continue to manage any aggressive spread of this virus and protect the residents, especially those who are vulnerable, in our nine counties by maintaining good social distancing, wearing of face barrier when appropriate and incorporating other preventative measures,” said Roger Wiese, Executive Director.
Information on the guidelines, which are further relaxed in Phase 4 are available at http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/COVID-19-Directed-Health-Measures.aspx along with a document that outlines all phases.
Case count update as of 7/27/2020 at 3:00 PM: 82 Total Cases (TC), 67 Recoveries (R), and 1 Death (D).
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: 18 R: 15, D: 1
Keya Paha: TC: 0
Boyd: TC: 1, R: 1
Knox: TC: 31 R: 27
Brown: TC: 0
Pierce: TC: 17 R: 16
Cherry: TC: 4 R: 1
Rock: TC: 2, R: 2
Holt: TC: 9 R: 5
