Northeast Nebraska Public Health Department reporting surge in COVID-19 cases

SIOUX CITY (KTIV) - A Nebraska public health department that covers four Siouxland counties is reporting a surge in positive COVID-19 cases in the last few weeks.

The Northeast Nebraska Public Health Department, which oversees Cedar, Dixon, Thurston and Wayne Counties, says new COVID-19 cases in their area have increased more than eight times since Jan. 1.

The health department says for the week of Dec. 26 they had 56 new cases, while the week of Jan. 2 saw 189 new cases. But for the week of Jan. 9, 455 positive COVID-19 cases were confirmed. With so many cases being reported, each of the four counties are experiencing a high transmission rate of the virus.

Number of positive tests (7-day reporting period).(NNPHD)

As of last week, there were 759 active COVID-19 cases in the NNPHD district. For 2022, only two virus-related deaths have been reported in the NNPHD district, bringing their total to 72.

NNPHD says that just over 50 percent of residents in their four counties are fully vaccinated against the virus.