Box Butte County Records First COVID-19 Death; Dawes Down To 7 Active Cases

          Panhandle Unified Command says the region has recorded its 9th COVID-19 death and the first in Box Butte. The victim was a man in his 50’s who had underlying health conditions. 

      In addition to the death, Unified Command confirmed 16 more cases of COVID since last reporting on Thursday with 7 new cases in Scotts Bluff County, 6 in Box Butte, 2 in Morrill, and 1 in Cheyenne County.

     There were also 18 recoveries in the Panhandle Public Health District, which includes the 11 Panhandle counties and Grant in the Sandhills. 

     There were 6 recoveries in Box Butte County, 4 each in Dawes and Sheridan, 2 in Morrill, and 1 each in Grant and Cheyenne. 

     The Panhandle now has 810 cases of COVID-19 with 716 recoveries, 9 deaths, and 85 active cases including 6 who are hospitalized.

      Dawes County is down to just 7 active cases with 119 total cases and 112 recoveries. Chadron State College has one active case, a student, out of a total of 46 cases – 40 students and 6 employees.

      The most recent active case in the Chadron Public Schools was declared fully recovered over the weekend, but the district still has a dozens students and staffers under quarantine.