News Release
Central District Health Department (CDHD) sadly reports a total of 10 new Covid-19 related deaths in the district, bringing the total number of deaths to 35, with a total of 28 in Hall County, 7 in Hamilton and none in Merrick County. CDHD additionally reports a total of 1,035 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases as of 2:00 p.m. today. The total breakdown by county is Hall: 972, Hamilton: 49, and Merrick: 9. We have continued wide-spread COVID-19 in our district.
The availability of testing is now increasing. The Nebraska National Guard will again be testing for COVID-19 Thursday and Saturday this week 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We anticipate the roll out of TestNebraska in Grand Island early next week. This will greatly increase the number of COVID-19 tests. More testing means more positives, but more importantly it means that we will identify more persons who are contagious and advise them to quarantine.
CDHD has access to a team of local, state and national public health experts to provide input on efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. We are evaluating what has worked and what can be improved. Key additions include providing case management and community health worker support for persons being tested and especially for persons and their families testing positive.
We ask that all members of our community make the continued commitment to social distance, to self-isolate when sick, and to stay home when sick. Keep your family safe by reducing their exposure to others. Take every precaution to avoid getting sick. Register at TestNebraska now at: https://www.testnebraska.com/en