LINCOLN, Ne. – Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD) today announced that four more residents have died from COVID-19. The total number of deaths in Lancaster County is now 141.
The deaths included a man in his 60s and two women in their 70s and 80s who were in long-term care facilities, and a man in his 90s who was hospitalized. On behalf of the City, Mayor Gaylor Baird expresses condolences to their families and friends.
LLCHD reports 189 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lancaster County today, bringing the community total to 21,295.
Visit COVID19.lincoln.ne.gov to access a dashboard that summarizes Lancaster County COVID-19 data. LLCHD also released the following information today:
Recoveries: up from 6,244 to 6,307
Weekly positivity rate:
- December 13 through 19: 27.4 percent
- December 20 through 22: 26 percent
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 positive patients: 90 with 53 from Lancaster County (four on ventilators) and 37 from other communities (four on ventilators).
The COVID-19 Risk Dial is in the red position indicating a severe risk of the virus spreading. Residents are advised to follow these recommendations to protect themselves and others:
- Stay at home unless traveling for work, school, food or medical care or to check on others who may need assistance.
- Work from home if possible.
- Wear a face mask when interacting with anyone outside of your household.
- Stay at least six feet away from anyone outside of your household.
- Avoid gatherings.
- Only visit businesses and participate in activities where public health guidelines are observed. The guidelines include mask wearing, physical distancing and capacity limits.
- Follow travel guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control at cdc.gov.
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, shortness of breath, repeated shaking with chills, repeated muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell. If you have symptoms, please get tested. Testing is now open to all Lancaster County residents by appointment only.
The testing process begins with a free online risk assessment available at BryanHealth.com, CHIHealth.com or TestNebraska.com. Drive through test sites include:
- Bryan Health: Former Graham Tire Store, northeast corner of 19th and “O” streets. Tests are conducted from 8:45 to 11:15 a.m. Monday and 8:45 to 11:45 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The drive-through will be closed December 25 through 27.
- CHI Health St. Elizabeth: Autumn Ridge Family Medicine, 5000 North 26th St. and Southwest Family Health, 1240 Aries Drive. Call either site to schedule an appointment: Autumn Ridge at 402-435-5300 and South West Family at 402-420-1300. The holiday hours for testing are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Christmas Eve; 10 am. to 2 p.m. Christmas Day; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. New Year’s Day.
- Test Nebraska: Gateway Mall, 6100 “O” St., north parking lot of the former Sears store. Tests are conducted from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The site will be closed Christmas Day but will be open New Year’s Day. For more information, call 402-207-9377.
For more information, visit COVID19.lincoln.ne.gov or call the Health Department hotline at 402-441-8006.