Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
COVID-19 has made a comeback to the area in recent weeks.
According to the Panhandle Unified Command's last briefing on Jan. 19, Kimball County had 28 cases over the past seven days. By Monday, Jan. 24, the number increased to 30 with 725 total confirmed cases of Covid.
Jessica Davies from PPHD said, "The latest sequencing in the Panhandle shows 75% of new cases are the omicron variant. In Nebraska, 94% of new cases are omicron."
The omicron virus is spreading more easily than the original COVID-19.
Davies continued, "Even with the high case counts, our current hospitalizations are remaining in the 17-25 range. The concern is the sheer volume of people due to the contagiousness of the omicron variant, and hospitalizations are a lagging indicator, so it may take a few weeks before the hospitalizations begin to markedly increase."
Information from Kimball Health Services stated that they have moved to just symptomatic patient testing and have asked individuals needing testing to call and make an appointment.
The Panhandle has one of the lowest fully vaccinated rates in the state of Nebraska, hovering just over 40% from Jan. 12-19. The advice from the PPHD is, "Please get vaccinated and get boosted. This is our best defense against COVID."
Free at-home COVID-19 tests can be ordered at https://www.covidtests.gov.
