County-level COVID-19 data again availble

McCOOK, Neb. — Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department is now able to report COVID-19 data by county again due to the governor’s Executive Order. Dashboards showing the confirmed cases and the vaccination rates per county are available at swhealth.ne.gov. Anyone interested in viewing the data can click on the COVID-19 banner and go to the General Info and Maps section.

Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is providing statewide data on COVID-19 on their website again, listed as the Hospital Capacity Dashboard at dhhs.ne.gov. This dashboard shows the number of cases in the last 14 days by county, vaccination rates, as well as hospitalization rates and more. To see the county numbers, hover over the county and a box of information will come up. Those counties with no hospital beds or pediatric beds are listed as 0%.

Reporting of vaccination rates may vary between state DHHS and SWNPHD, due to the inclusion of partially vaccinated individuals in SWNPHD’s data to capture even partial protection against COVID-19. DHHS is reporting fully vaccinated individuals only.

SWNPHD would like to answer questions that residents have about the COVID vaccines and provide factual and evidence-based information to the residents of our health district and ensure vaccination opportunities exist for all who wish to receive them. Information on the COVID vaccines has been put on local radio stations and in community newspapers to help residents understand their safety and effectiveness and where to find vaccination sites in southwest Nebraska. The website is also regularly updated with contact information for providers that are giving COVID vaccines in several counties.

Pfizer, Moderna, and the one-dose J&J COVID vaccines are available at several locations throughout the health district including at SWNPHD, local pharmacies and participating providers. All three COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the United States have proven to be effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization, and death.

SWNPHD had 99 new cases of COVID-19 reported from September 21 to September 27, 2021, bringing the weekly average to 93.5 cases per week in the last 30 days. A breakdown by age includes: 0 to 19 – 25; 20 to 29 – 17; 30 to 39 – 8; 40 to 49 – 16; 50 to 59 – 13; 60 to 69 – 14; 70 to 79 – 4; 80 and over – 2. The total number of cases is 4,593. Vaccination rates across the health district have reached 49.4%, counting both fully vaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals.

Visit swhealth.ne.gov for information on COVID-19. 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 and can be reached by calling 308-345-4223.