Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez says COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline. On Tuesday she announced the COVID-19 Risk Dial will move from low orange to mid-yellow. The dial has not been in yellow since late October 2021.
The yellow position on the dial means that the risk of the virus spreading in the community is moderate. Lopez also announced that the health department is no longer recommending people wear masks indoors. However, she says those who have symptoms of COVID-19, have a positive COVID-19 test or have been exposed to someone with the virus should still wear a mask.
Lopez said almost every indicator used to determine the Risk Dial has improved over the past few weeks in Lancaster County. “We’re happy to see sustained improvement in our local situation,” Lopez says. “At the same time, we’re also aware of how quickly our situation can change. The future of this pandemic remains uncertain, but right now, we are very encouraged by our progress.”
The weekly number of new COVID-19 cases has now declined for six consecutive weeks. Cases dropped from 430 the week ending February 19 to 264 the week ending February 26. The seven-day average of COVID-19 patients hospitalized locally dropped from 141 at the beginning of February to 54 on February 27, a decline of about 62%.
The positivity rate is just slightly higher than the previous week – up from 8.1% to 8.3%.