CONTACTS
Leah Bucco-White, Communications, (402) 309-4157, leah.bucco-white@nebraska.gov
Khalilah LeGrand, Communications, (402) 853-1320, khalilah.legrand@nebraska.gov
Case Totals and Test Nebraska Sites for Coming Week; Take Precautions When Going Out
LINCOLN – The state case total, as of 5:45 p.m. Central Daylight Time today, is 20,777, marking an increase of 1,117 from last Friday. During the past seven days, the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the state increased by two to 286, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) data dashboard. The Department continues to improve validation processes related to COVID-19 with respect to deaths. These efforts have resulted in some fluctuations in the total death count. A handful of counties found a duplicate record in the system or a death that was initially classified as COVID-19 related, but as more information was gathered, it was later determined not to be a COVID-19 death. These records were removed from the total death count.
Local health departments are reporting deaths and cases in their jurisdictions. In the event of a discrepancy between DHHS dashboard data and deaths or cases reported by local public health officials, data reported by the local health department should be considered the most up to date.
In addition, 15,499 Nebraskans, diagnosed with COVID-19, have since recovered.
TestNebraska hit a new high of 3,600 tests on Tuesday and average turnaround time to receive results is currently 31 hours. Any Nebraska resident who needs a test should complete the online assessment at TestNebraska.com or Testnebraska/es for Spanish, and schedule a visit to their nearest testing site to receive a test. TestNebraska locations, dates and times for the week of July 13 are listed at TestNebraska.com and TestNebraska/es.
Deciding to Go Out
In light of the fact that some of the United States is experiencing a renewed surge of COVID-19 cases, public health officials stress the importance of cloth face coverings and social distancing.
While there is no way to ensure zero risk of infection, it is important to understand potential risks and how to adopt different types of prevention measures to protect yourself and to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Review these recommendations from the CDC - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/deciding-to-go-out.html.
The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain especially in areas of significant community-based transmission - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover-faq.html.
Cloth face coverings are not a substitute for social distancing. Public health officials continue to emphasize that maintaining 6-feet social distancing is crucial to slowing the spread of the virus.
Tools and resources can be found on the DHHS website - dhhs.ne.gov/coronavirus and CDC's website – https://www.cdc.gov/covid19 . In addition, DHHS opened a statewide COVID-19 information line to help answer general questions and share the latest information and resources with Nebraskans to help keep them informed. The number is (402) 552-6645 or toll-free at (833) 998-2275; hours of operation are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. CDT, 7 days a week.
DHHS will continue to update Nebraskans through the DHHS website and on Facebook and Twitter as we have new information. The CDC's website is also a good resource for COVID-19 information - https://www.cdc.gov/covid19.
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