OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus in Nebraska has dropped to its lowest point in nearly three months, according to state statistics.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' online virus tracker shows 429 people were hospitalized Sunday with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. That's the lowest number since Oct. 26, when 427 people were hospitalized.
The number of new daily cases jumped on Sunday, to 1.061 from 741 on Saturday and 672 on Friday, but was still well below the record 3,440 cases recorded on Nov. 16. State officials have confirmed 181,978 cases and 1,837 deaths in Nebraska since the pandemic began.
As of Sunday, the state had the 36th-highest rate of infection, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That's a vast improvement from two months ago, when Nebraska has the sixth-highest rate of new virus cases in the nation.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska has improved over the past two weeks, dropping from more than 989 new cases a day on Jan. 3 to nearly 756 new cases per day on Sunday.
The positivity rate in Nebraska has also improved over the past two weeks, going from 10.09% on Jan. 3 to 8.73% on Sunday.