Osmond not ‘hot spot’ for COVID-19

OSMOND — On Wednesday of last week, North Central District Health Department (NCDHD) moved Pierce County into the “orange” category for COVID-19 precautions. What does that mean for the Osmond school district?  As of right now, it means nothing is going to change.  Osmond is NOT a “hot-spot.”  

In addition to receiving the weekly updates for Pierce County, Osmond school Superintendent Dave Hamm receives updates specific to School District 42R. The information is not public; however, in consultation with NCDHD, this data informs the local decision-making process.  

Hamm did share with the Osmond Republican that the number of cases within this district decreased during the past week (by over 40%) and yet the color for Pierce County elevated from “Yellow” to “Orange.”

Hamm shared the following analogy to explain the situation:

“With winter fast approaching, I will need to make some decisions regarding school closure. That decision-making process is like the one we use for COVID-19. The question I ask myself is, what is the immediate or impending threat to our school district’s students and staff?  

“Is it possible for Osmond to receive six inches of snow and Pierce to only receive one inch? We know that occasionally happens. Should Pierce close their school district because Osmond received six inches of snow?  The answer is ‘no.’

“The same holds true for moving into the ‘Orange’ category.  All of Pierce County may be in a blizzard (orange) watch; however, only parts of the county may receive the wind and snow (active COVID-19 counts).

“Currently, Osmond does not have the numbers that warrant making a change to what we are doing,” Hamm concluded.

Hopefully, this answers any questions community members may have about the situation in Osmond.

For more information about COVID-19 cases in the area and in the state, go to http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx and click on the link for the COVID-19 data dashboard.

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