COVID-19 case rates stable at “moderate”
SHDHD promotes readiness for new variants by getting up to date on vaccination
Hastings, Neb – In the health department’s weekly health update on October 11, South Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD) executive director Michele Bever reported that COVID-19 trends remain fairly stable. She reported 20 new cases logged last week, compared to 18 the week before.
Bever said laboratory testing for COVID was down 22% last week compared to the prior week. “Despite low numbers of confirmed test results, we are maintaining at a “moderate level” of 49 new cases per 100K in the past 7 days. This is certainly an undercount, since we are unable to include results from home testing,” she said.
A case rate of 100 or more per 100,000 in 7 days is considered “high level”, 50-99.99 is “substantial”, 10-49.99 is “moderate”, and less than 10 is considered a “low” case rate.
In other trends, one long-term care facility in the health department’s four counties reported staff or residents testing positive, and the area’s hospitals report only one inpatient currently hospitalized due to COVID-19. There continues to be a low level of virus measured from samples of wastewater in Hastings.
Bever said SHDHD is monitoring the national and global trends for emerging new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Here in Nebraska, the state genomic surveillance report indicates that BA.5 makes up about 80% of the circulating virus, with BA.4.6 accounting for 17%.
“Yes, COVID-19 community levels in our health district are lower right now. However, due to the many emerging variants, community levels are not likely to stay that way through the late fall and winter. We recommend residents get up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters,” she said. “This will help reduce transmission and protect against serious illness."
“Our communities will be better able to weather future variants if we have more residents up to date on their vaccines, including children and young adults,” Bever said. “While their symptoms may not usually be as concerning, infected young people spread the virus in the community to other people, of all ages, some of whom are more at risk for severe illness because of their underlying health conditions or age. This is one factor that keeps our community transmission at these current levels, and it concerns me as we look ahead to the later fall and winter months and the likely arrival of new variants,” she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides information on how to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, including a tool on their website to help you determine when you can get your booster: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html. The CDC recommends getting a COVID-19 vaccine after recovering from COVID-19 infection because it provides added protection against COVID-19. According to the CDC, if you recently had COVID-19, you may consider delaying your next vaccine dose by 3 months from when your symptoms started.
SHDHD’s website, southheartlandhealth.ne.gov, has a COVID-19 vaccine webpage that lists locations carrying the COVID-19 vaccine and provides information on eligibility for the primary series vaccines and bivalent booster doses.
SHDHD’s flu vaccine webpage lists locations in Adams, Clay, Nuckolls, and Webster counties where influenza vaccine is available. The flu vaccine webpage includes the hours, how to schedule, whether walk-ins are welcome, insurance billing, and contact information for each clinic or pharmacy. The webpage may be accessed from the health department’s website homepage: southheartlandhealth.ne.gov.
It is safe to get a COVID shot and a flu shot at the same time and Bever said some locations are offering both flu shots and COVID-19 vaccines. South Heartland’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic will also have flu shots available on October 19 and October 26. Bert’s Pharmacy will be providing the flu vaccine at these clinics, which are held from 4 pm to 6 pm at the west end of Allen’s in Hastings.
For more information on COVID-19, or for locations offering COVID-19 vaccine or COVID-19 tests, refer to the SHDHD website, southheartlandhealth.ne.gov, or call the health department office, 1-877-238-7595.
SHDHD COVID-19 dashboard update on 10.11.2022:
- 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases logged last week compared to 18 the week before
- 13 confirmed cases counted in the current week through Tuesday
- Long-term Care Facilities: 2 facilities with staff and/or residents testing positive in the past 2 weeks
- Hospitals: 1 patient hospitalized due to COVID as of 10/11/22
- Case rate is “moderate”: 49 cases per 100,000 for the past 7 days on 10.11.22 (100 or more cases per 100K in 7 days is considered High)
- Community weekly positivity: 23% for the week ending 10/08/22 (10% is considered High)
- Testing for last week decreased by 22% over the previous week (99 confirmed test results down from 127). Testing does not include results from at-home tests, which are not included in the case counts and are not required to be reported to the health department.
- Cumulative case total for the health district: 11,327 since March 2020
- Preliminary data in the most current Nebraska Genomic Surveillance Report shows that BA.5 makes up ~80% of the circulating virus and BA.4.6 makes up 17% of the circulating virus.
- Most current Nebraska Wastewater Surveillance Report shows “low” virus levels for Hastings (samples from 9/26/22)
- Other South Heartland District COVID-19 trends may be found on SHDHD’s COVID-19 dashboard at southheartlandhealth.ne.gov