Lincoln Virus Case Numbers Take Huge Jump

courtesy of 1011Now

Lncoln, NE (November 8, 2020) Sunday’s number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases caused everybody to do a double take. 374 new cases. The City and County’s biggest single day number, by far, came just two days after Friday’s announcement that the Covid Risk Dial was being raised from orange to red. Red is the highest level, and indicates a “Severe” risk of spread.

Sunday’s number pushed the 15 day average for Lancaster County to 166 cases per day. 50 people have died so far from the virus.

Health Director Pat Lopez said this is an all-time high for the number of daily cases reported. “It’s important to recognize that there has never been a greater risk of the virus spreading in our community ,” Lopez said. “Our residents must all take the steps to slow this virus to protect ourselves, our families and our health system.”

Lopez urged residents to follow these recommendations:

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.

Visit COVID19.lincoln.ne.gov to access a dashboard that summarizes Lancaster County COVID-19 data.

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.

LLCHD reminds the public that a flu vaccination is the most effective way to reduce the risk of getting influenza. The flu vaccine is easily accessible, and the public is encouraged to contact health care providers or find a community flu immunization location in November.

LLCHD will provide free flu immunizations to anyone age 6 months and older. For more information, call 402-441-8065 or visit lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: vaccine).