The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department announced that three more residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in Lancaster County to 57. The individuals were two men in their 80s and a woman in her 70s. Two were hospitalized and one was at a nursing home.
The Health Department reports 376 new lab confirmed cases of COVID-19 Thursday bringing the community total to 12.123. Recoveries are up from 4,520 to 4,563. The Lancaster County positivity rate is up from 10.5% to 10.8%. The state rate is up from 13.6% to 13.9%. The national rate remains at 7.7%.
There are 133 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Lancaster County with 49 from Lancaster County and 84 from other communities. There are 15 patients on ventilators.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath, repeated shaking with chills, repeated muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell. If you have symptoms, please get tested. Testing is now open to all Lancaster County residents by appointment only.
The testing process begins with a free online risk assessment available at BryanHealth.com, CHIHealth.com or TestNebraska.com. Drive through test sites include:
- Bryan Health: Former Graham Tire Store, northeast corner of 19th and “O” streets.
- Test Nebraska: Gateway Mall, 6100 “O” St., northwest corner of the mall. Test Nebraska’s hours are 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
- CHI Health St. Elizabeth: Autumn Ridge Family Medicine, 5000 North 26th St. and Southwest Family Health, 1240 Aries Drive. Call either site to schedule an appointment: Autumn Ridge at 402-435-5300 and South West Family at 402-420-1300.
The COVID-19 Risk Dial is now in the red position. The red dial position indicates a severe risk of the virus spreading. Residents are advised to follow these recommendations to protect themselves and others:
- Stay at home unless traveling for work, school, food or medical care or to check on others who may need assistance.
- Work from home if possible.
- Wear a face mask when interacting with anyone outside of your household.
- Stay at least six feet away from anyone outside of your household.
- Avoid gatherings.
- Only visit businesses and participate in activities where public health guidelines are observed. The guidelines include mask wearing, physical distancing and capacity limits.
- Follow travel guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control at cdc.gov.