The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department today announced that three more residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in Lancaster County to 70. The individuals were two women in their 90s and a man in his 70s. All had been hospitalized.
The Health Department also reports 309 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lancaster County today, bringing the community total to 14,835. The 98 new cases reported yesterday were partial results. Today’s total includes cases reported by midnight Sunday. The total number of new cases reported for Sunday and today is 407. Recoveries are up from 4,920 to 4,988.
The weekly positivity rate for November 15th through the 21st is at 27.4% and November 22nd through the 23rd at 28%.
There are 176 hospitalizations for COVID-19 positive patients with 20 on ventilators.
The COVID-19 Risk Dial is in the red position indicating 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.
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., north parking lot of the former Sears store, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. For more information visit testnebraska.com or call 402-207-9377.
- 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.