OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska continues to report record numbers of new coronavirus cases and people hospitalized with the virus.
State health officials said the surge in virus cases over the past month continued Friday with 2,681 new cases and 748 people hospitalized with the virus. Both those numbers were new records, and the state's rate of new cases was the seventh-highest in the nation.
There have now been 80,693 cases of the virus in the state, according to the online virus tracker. The state said 27 new deaths were reported Friday to give the state 701 deaths.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has increased over the past two weeks from 836.71 new cases per day on Oct. 23 to 1,408.86 new cases per day on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Also Friday, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services said nine more staff members had tested positive for the virus to give it a total of 225 staff members who have been diagnosed with the virus. The department said the ill staffers are all isolating themselves at home.