Local Health Dept. pushes COVID risk dial into new territory

WAYNE — The first COVID-19 death of the pandemic has been reported in Cedar County.

A man in his early 50s died last week after contracting the virus.

Cedar County is still in the red in the COVID-19 Risk Dial.

The Risk Dial is designed to help people better understand the current risk of getting the virus for this area. 

The scale has five varying degrees of risk from the coronavirus, ranging from green, or the safest,  to red, the most severe.

The move was made by the Northeast Neb. Public Health Dept. because of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases being recorded here.

The county is currently in the low end of the scale, but if numbers increase, this area could move deeper into the red, public health department officials said.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, Cedar County reported 50 new COVID-19 cases. This is the biggest one-day increase ever recorded in the county. 

Cedar County has 444 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic here last March. 

The four-county Northeast Nebraska Public Health Dept. District had a total of  128 new cases over the weekend. 

Since March, the NENPHD has recorded 14,867 total cases in the District. 

To date, Wayne County has recorded the most COVID cases in the four-county district with 739. Thurston County is next with 663. Dixon County has the fewest reported cases with 387. 

The New York Times recently listed Wayne County as one of the fastest spreading spots in the entire country.

Cedar County has experienced a sharp increase from just three weeks ago.

At the start of November, Cedar County had nearly 100 fewer COVID cases as 240 cases were reported in the County Nov. 3.

Pushing the area into the Red portion of the COVID-19 health dial is beginning to trigger several new measures designed to limit the spread of the virus.

The state of Nebraska, as a whole, is in the Orange phase of the COVID dial. That increase has prompted Gov. Pete Ricketts to issue new Directed Health Measures. 

The most recent Directed Health Measure will remain in place until at least Nov. 30.  

It requires masks where staff and patrons are within six feet of each other for 15 minutes or more.  The state is also requiring six feet of separation between parties at businesses, churches, restaurants/bars, gyms/fitness clubs, and other gatherings such as weddings and funerals. Many private funerals are being held with plans for a public celebration of life to be held in the future.

The state of Nebraska has reported 115,921 COVID-19 cases to date, and 958 Nebraskans have died from the virus.

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