COVID Cases Up In Nebraska, But New Case Rate Lower Than National Average

     The number of COVID-19 cases reported in Nebraska jumped last week, but the rate of new cases remained below the national average. 

      The state recorded 456 virus cases last week, up sharply from 253 and 181 in the two previous weeks. CDC data ranks Nebraska 23rd nationally in new cases per capita. 

   Dr. James Lawler of the University of Nebraska Medical Center says the increases the past 2 weeks aren’t a surprise given the presence of the highly contagious Delta variant and the number of people in the state who haven’t gotten vaccinated.

      South Dakota’s weekly update shows 61 new cases for a total of 109,320 during the pandemic, while one new death moved the death toll to 2,039. There are 178 active cases, 11 more than last week, with 47 hospitalized.

      41 of the new cases were West River including 21 in Pennington County, 3 in Oglala Lakota, and just 1 eact in Custer and Fall River. 

       Nebraska moved to just weekly updates on its COVID-19 Dashboard last week while South Dakota made the switch on Monday.