Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez had some good news Wednesday in the fight against COVID-19. “In the last two weeks cases have dropped about 40 percent. We’ve reached our peak and cases are coming down.”
Despite the improvement, hospitalizations remain high and the COVID-19 Risk Dial will remain in red for a fifth straight week. The weekly number of new local cases decreased from 4,963 for the week ending January 15 to 3,042 for the week ending January 29. The local positivity rate also dropped during that time from 30.7% to 25%.
“Even though our cases have peaked, this doesn’t mean the threat is over,” Lopez says. “The risk of infection is still very high and we will continue to see the consequences of so many cases in such a short period of time, primarily in additional hospitalizations and deaths. We need to continue our current efforts to help preserve access to our hospitals and health care, keep schools open, and reduce disruptions in business services.”
147 patients were hospitalized as of February 1, including 113 Lancaster County patients, which is the highest number reported since the pandemic began.
The local Directed Health Measure which remains in effect through February 11.