Fifteen new COVID-19 cases district-wide over weekend

    Chase County now has four cases of COVID-19 and there have now been a total of 49 in Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department’s nine-county region.
    In a media release, SWNPHD said it was notified of 15 people with positive tests between Friday and Monday.
    Those included a female Chase County resident in her 40s, who was diagnosed after direct contact with another confirmed case.
    That added to three other Chase County cases announced last week, including a man in his 30s, a woman in her 30s and a male in his teens. All were the result of direct contact. Direct contact is defined as being within 6 feet for 15 minutes or more of someone with the virus.
    SWNPHD serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins and Red Willow counties.
    Of the 49 cases, 25 have recovered and there has been a single death.
    Other new cases include: two Furnas County residents, a woman in her 60s related to community spread and a man in his 40s whose case remains under investigation; two Keith County residents, both women in their 30s and both related to direct contact; eight Perkins County residents, a woman in her 30s related to community spread and seven others related to direct contact, women in their 20s, 70s and 90s, a teenage male and men in their 20s and 90s; and two Red Willow County residents, a male in his 30s related to community spread and a male in his 20s related to direct contact.
    In other coronavirus news, SWNPHD has launched a COVID-19 Community Risk Dial.
    The color-coded dial on www.swhealth.ne.gov shows the phase of the pandemic in the district and provides guidance for protection of individuals and prevention of spread.
    It uses four colors to represent risk phases described in the Federal Guidance on Reopening America, Johns Hopkins University Guidance for Governors on Reopening States and guidance documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    For each of the four risk colors, specific recommendations are provided for physical distancing, face covering, hand washing, illness monitoring and disinfection, both at home and outside the home. Specific guidance is included for people at risk for complications due to COVID-19.
    The dial was in the yellow this week.
    Myra Stoney, health director at SWNPHD, called the dial “a valuable tool to make informed decisions about COVID-19 risk.”
    It will be updated every Monday based on the increase or decrease in the number of cases; the increase or decrease in the percentage of positive tests; availability of testing; the ability of the health department to investigate cases and trace contacts; the capacity of the local health care system; and the availability of personal protective equipment and other critical medical equipment.
State numbers
    Nebraska’s case total, as of last Friday, is 22,361, an increase of 1,584 from the last report July 10.
    Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Dashboard data also shows an increase in positive cases being reported this week over last week.
    There were 15 new COVID-19-related deaths in the state, for a total of 301 as of last Friday. In addition, 16,665 Nebraskans diagnosed with COVID-19 have since recovered.