McCOOK, Neb. — Only two cases of COVID-19 were reported last week and 12 over the past four weeks, but now is a good time to prepare for the next wave that might be on the way, according to Southwest Nebraska Health Department officials. One more death was reported in the 9-county SWNPHD district, bringing the total to 110...

McCOOK, Neb. — Less than 4% of COVID-19 tests were positive in the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department last week, but nearly 80% of them were in Keith County. Some 42% of all SWNPHD residents are fully vaccinated, and 48% of those who received the minimum recommended dose also received their vaccine boosters...

McCOOK, Neb. — Free COVID test kits are still available through Community Hospital, according to Baleigh Abbott, Community Hospital Population Health and Outreach Coordinator, but the means of distributing the tests has changed. Anyone in southwest Nebraska can request a test kit by calling Abbott at 308-344-8550. She will make arrangements for pickup to those who request it...

McCOOK, Neb. — Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department reported nearly twice the number of COVID-19 cases last week than the week before. More than 250 people tested positive last week, with many more having symptoms but not getting tested. There were 72 cases reported in one day, which is just under the record from November 2020 of 77 cases reported in one day...

McCOOK, Neb. — In case it has not been apparent, Community Hospital, like all hospitals in the United States, has been challenged by the state of healthcare in the nation, according to Troy Bruntz, President & CEO. “I would say that in my 18 years we have never been busier for this long of a period of time. We are short-staffed and our staff is tired and facing burnout.”...

McCOOK, Neb. — Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department has received confirmation that the Omicron variant is spreading in southwest Nebraska. Three cases from the end of December were confirmed as Omicron after genetic sequencing at the Nebraska Public Health Lab...

McCOOK, Neb. — With an average of 81 new COVID-19 cases reported each week for the last month in the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department District, less than half the Red Willow County population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid Data tracker...

McCOOK, Neb. — The Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department is reporting the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases of the year and the third-highest month since the beginning of the pandemic, with only November and December 2020 reporting more...

 McCOOK, Neb. — While the omicron variant of COVID-19, which was first found in South Africa, has been identified in southeastern Nebraska, none has been found in southwest Nebraska, according to the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department. There were six omicron cases in Nebraska, all connected to travel outside of the United States, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services...

LINCOLN, Neb. –The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Nebraska Public Health Solutions (PHS) District, and the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) have detected six cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 among Nebraska residents. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — A COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic for anyone 18 and above who has already received their COVID-19 vaccinations will be offered in McCook, according to Sharon Conroy, RN, Community Hospital Infection Preventionist. The free COVID-19 booster clinic is Thursday, December 9 at Community Hospital’s Prairie View A meeting room. The clinic will offer Moderna booster vaccines only...

OMAHA, Neb. — Former Congressman and Husker Coach Tom Osborne, with the help of UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, has produced a public service announcement urging all Nebraskans to get vaccinated against COVID-19. As highlighted in the message, unvaccinated patients in our Nebraska hospitals now outnumber vaccinated patients by a ratio of 11:1. Our hospitals, from Scottsbluff to Omaha, are near or at capacity and COVID-19 continues to stress our health care systems statewide...

McCOOK, Neb. — The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have expanded the recommendations for booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to now include all adults ages 18 years and older. The decision to expand eligibility was based on the latest research data on boosters and third doses that have already been administered in the U.S. and in other countries, which showed the booster shots increase protection against COVID-19, including the widely circulating Delta variant...

McCOOK, Neb. — A Community Hospital official is cautiously hopeful a federal judge’s ruling against a coronavirus vaccine mandate will make a difference. “This is preliminary but a win none the less,” said Troy Bruntz, Community Hospital President & CEO...

McCOOK, Neb. — Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department has pediatric doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine now available. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in ages 5 to 11 at the end of October, and now the official guidelines and recommendations have been given by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices...

McCOOK, Neb. — The rate of COVID-19 infections is following a similar path as last year, but numbers are a fraction of what they were in those pre-vaccine days. COVID-19 cases in 2020 numbered 79 in August, 101 in September, 685 in October and 1,152 in November, according to the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department, and this year reached 262 in August, 411 in September and 464 in October, with November yet to be seen...

McCOOK, Neb. — The Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department has received approval from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to provide the Moderna and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine boosters recently approved by the FDA. The local providers and pharmacies who are currently giving Moderna or Janssen can now give those doses as well...

McCOOK, Neb. — Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) has received approval from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide the Moderna and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine boosters recently approved by the FDA. The local providers and pharmacies who are currently giving Moderna or Janssen can now give those doses as well...

Three more COVID-19 deaths reported in district McCOOK, Neb. — Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department received a report last week of three additional deaths due to COVID-19 in the health district. “While the number of deaths from COVID-19 has thankfully stayed low in our area, this is a time to remember that there are still people and families being harmed by this virus,” said Myra Stoney, Health Director at SWNPHD. ...

McCOOK, Neb. — The Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department reported 98 new cases of COVID-19 last week, 50 of them younger than 40, according to officials. The cases, reported Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, brought the average to 91.5 cases per week in the last 30 days...

McCOOK, Neb. — COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Delta variant, according to the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department. “Within the nine-county health district, the majority of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have been in unvaccinated individuals,” according to a release...

McCOOK, Neb -- Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department has seen a rapid increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in youth throughout the health district, according to a release issued today. There have been changes in the trend of what ages are being affected throughout the pandemic, especially now with the Delta variant of COVID-19 causing the majority of cases. The accompanying chart compares COVID-19 cases in SWNPHD by age for 2020 (light blue) versus 2021 (dark blue)...

McCOOK, Neb. — Fogging classrooms and reinstalling plastic glass shields were implemented for a short time in September at McCook Public Schools, due to an uptick in active COVID-19 cases in the district. Those measures and other protocols were shared at a brief executive committee meeting held earlier this month, Superintendent Grant Norgaard told the McCook School Board meeting Monday night...

McCOOK, Neb. — With 89 new cases in the last week and an average of 84 cases per week over the last month, the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department is emphasizing the possible long-term effects of the COVID-19 virus. Of the new cases, a breakdown by age includes: 0 to 19 – 25; 20 to 29 – 17; 30 to 39 – 15; 40 to 49 – 6; 50 to 59 – 7; 60 to 69 – 13; 70 to 79 – 5; 80 and over – 1. The total number of cases is 4,414. Vaccination rates across the health district have reached 48%...