Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
As of Monday of this week, the Panhandle jumped into the middle of the severe COVID-19 spread range, and the Panhandle is also making national headlines as the cases and spread of COVID-19 have skyrocketed in this area.
Kimball County has certainly faired better to date than other Panhandle counties, but the season appears to be just getting underway and the numbers change daily.
Since the beginning of COVID-19 Kimball County has recorded 135 cases with 77 people recovered and currently 58 active cases.
Cheyenne County had 173 active cases but Scotts Bluff County topped the charts with 1,567 active cases as of Tuesday afternoon. Only Banner, Deuel, Garden, Sioux and Grant counties have lower active cases than Kimball County. According to some officials, area residents should keep social distancing, washing their hands, wearing a mask and staying home.
A New York Times chart of Nebraska counties with the most cases per 100,000 residents in the last seven days lists, in order from the top, Johnson, Madison, Cheyenne and Scotts Bluff counties. The Times Nebraska COVID Map and Case Count shows Kimball County with six average daily cases, Cheyenne County with 20 average daily cases and Scotts Bluff County with 78 average daily cases.
Locally, Bemis Drug Store and Kimball Bakery have been strict mask enforcers, but Dollar General even with their sign of “Mask Required” has been unable to get all of their customers to follow this request.
The manager at Dollar General said as employees they are required to wear masks, they are required to have the sign on the door but they are not to enforce the mask requirement due to confrontations with customers. Manager Nancy Durheim said about half of their customers wear masks in the store.
In other local COVID-19 news, the First English Lutheran Church Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 26, has restricted the meals to Delivery or Curbside pickup. They are asking for a call ahead of time for your Thanksgiving meal.
Nebraska Strong Recovery Project has been in Kimball this past week handing out brochures and information about Coping During an Infectious Disease Outbreak. Their pamphlet has tips and ways to support yourself during a disease outbreak and there are help lines for people to call if they are needing help in any way. The support or help line is 1-800-464-0258 or 1-888-866-8660.