COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the Three Rivers Public Health Department district.
The health department, which serves Dodge, Saunders and Washington counties, reported Wednesday there have been 168 COVID-19 cases in the last seven days (a weekly increase of 57 cases), and 288 cases in the past 14 days.
At the beginning of July, there were 15-20 individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19 in the Omaha-Metro Healthcare Coalition region. On Wednesday, Three Rivers reports 178 individuals within the region are hospitalized due to COVID-19, 31 are on ventilators.
“We want to remind our communities that the pandemic is not yet over,” Terra Uhing, Executive Director of the Three Rivers Public Health Department said. “We urge you to continue to take precautions to keep yourself, your family, and your communities safe. Please get vaccinated if you haven’t already, wear a mask when needed, practice good hand hygiene, and social distance when necessary. Let’s get through this together.”
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There have been 139 COVID-19-related deaths in the health district.
“The Delta variant is becoming more and more prevalent. Please get vaccinated, stay home when ill, and wear a mask and social distance as needed. Please do your part to keep your family and community members safe, our kids in schools, and our businesses open,” Uhing said.
Three Rivers is pleased that the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine, also known as Comirnaty, has received FDA approval for individuals who are 16 years of age and older.
“This is extremely exciting news. We know that many have been waiting for this before making the choice to get vaccinated against COVID-19. With the current state of the pandemic, we are thrilled that more people will feel comfortable enough to get vaccinated,” Uhing said.
The health department has identified 11 new lab-confirmed variants of concern within the health district.
The new variants of concern are Delta variant (India): four in Dodge County, six in Saunders County, and one in Washington County.
Three Rivers also reported Wednesday that they have identified nine new lab-confirmed variants of concern within the health district: six B.1.617 Delta variant (India) in Dodge County and three in Saunders County.
To date, Dodge County has a total of 41 identified variants of concern: 16 Alpha variants (U.K.), three California variants, one Gamma variant (Brazil), and 21 Delta variants (India). Saunders County has a total of 24 variants of concern consisting of nine Alpha variants, one Gamma variant, and 14 Delta variants. Washington County has a total of 29 variants of concern: 20 Alpha variants, one Gamma variant, and eight Delta variants. This totals 94 lab-confirmed variants of concern within the Three Rivers health district.
If you are home-bound or require special accommodations and wish to receive a COVID-19 test or vaccine, contact the health department at 402-704-2245.
If you or someone you know is in need of resources such as access to food, assistance with rent, or other needs, reach out to the health department’s Community Health Worker, Evelyn, at 402-704-2255.
The 3RPHD Data Dashboard is updated each weekday and can be found at: https://www.threeriverspublichealth.org/COVID-19/COVID-19-Updates.
For questions or more information about COVID-19, call Three Rivers at 402-727-5396, email info@3rphd.org or visit www.threeriverspublichealth.org.