Keith County resident, female in 80s, is latest positive COVID-19 case

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

McCOOK, Neb. -- A female in her 80s living in Keith County is the latest person to test positive for COVID-19 in the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department district, according to a release late Wednesday afternoon.

It is the fourth Keith County case and brings the total to 23 confirmed cases, 19 recovered and one death in the SWNPHD district.

The latest case was tested by her medical provider and was not part of a TestNebraska event. It was determined to be related to community spread.

The release indicated that the majority of results from the TestNebraska events June 24 in Arapahoe, June 25 in Nebraska and June 28 in Imperial have been received and were negative, about 15 have not yet been received.

Individuals who participated in these tests received an e-mail copy of their results from TestNebraska.

When a case is listed as community spread it is because health officials were not able to determine where the person was infected with COVID-19, since the case is not related to travel or direct contact with another case.

This means that the individual came into contact with someone carrying the virus either in the community or passing through the community.

SWNPHD encourages residents of the health district to continue to follow the recommended actions to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses like COVID-19.

This includes things like frequent hand-washing (especially after being in public), covering coughs and sneezes, cleaning surfaces often, and keeping a 6-foot distance from people who don’t live with you. If you will be somewhere that you won’t be able to keep your distance, wear a cloth face covering, the agency urged.

Information on COVID-19 in southwest Nebraska can be found on SWNPHD’s website www.swhealth.ne.gov. You can also follow SWNPHD on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. SWNPHD serves Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Hayes, Hitchcock, Keith, Perkins, and Red Willow counties. SWNPHD is located at 404 West 10th St (1 block north of Arby’s) in McCook.

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