OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska saw a record number of cases of the coronavirus confirmed for one day, as well as a record number of people hospitalized with the virus, according to state health department numbers.
The state's online virus tracker showed 1,605 new cases were confirmed Thursday - the most in one day since 1,286 on Oct. 16. The site also showed 528 people with the virus hospitalized on Thursday, well over the previous day's record of 483. The state's rate of new cases jumped to the seventh-highest in the nation as the number of cases in Nebraska grew to 68,150 and 637 COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
The rate of new cases per 100,000 Nebraska residents over the past two weeks increased to 659.42 on Thursday, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska jumped over the past two weeks from 724.43 new cases per day on Oct. 15 to 891 new cases per day on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Even with the increase in cases, the state said 31% of Nebraska's intensive care beds and 74% of its ventilators remain available. But in Douglas County - the state's most populous encompassing Omaha - only 15% of hospital beds and 19% of ICU beds remained available Thursday, according to local health officials.