OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska continues to report record numbers of people hospitalized with the coronavirus, and another inmate who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 has died.
The state said the number of people hospitalized with the virus jumped to 380 on Monday and eclipsed the previous day's record of 343. The new record is 64% higher than the spring peak of 232 set on May 27, according to the state's online virus tracker.
But Nebraska officials say 37% of the state's 578 intensive care beds remain available, so it appears that hospitals have the capacity to handle the recent surge.
Nebraska has the fifth-highest rate of new virus cases in the nation. The rate of new cases per 100,000 Nebraska residents over the past two weeks reached 547.25 on Monday, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
Nebraska reported 749 new cases of the virus and six new deaths Monday to give the state 58,817 cases and 554 deaths linked to COVID-19.
The state Corrections Department said an inmate in his 60s died Sunday - three weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus. He is the second inmate to die after being diagnosed with COVID-19 although officials said he had other health problems.