Lancaster County virus numbers improve, no deaths reported in 9 days
Lancaster County has gone more than a week without a COVID-19 death, health officials said Monday.
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lancaster County has gone more than a week without a COVID-19 death, health officials said Monday.
“One thing that I’m really pleased about is we haven’t had any reported deaths in our community for the last nine days,” County Health Director Pat Lopez said. “So that’s very encouraging.”
To date, 221 deaths have been reported in the county.
Lopez’s comment came during a briefing with city council members about the virus.
Lopez says the county averaged 48 new cases per day last week, with a positivity rate of 18% – down from 22% the week before. She said the number of people getting tested also increased last week.
A mass vaccination clinic was held Monday at Pinnacle Bank Arena for people 65 and older.
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Lopez said she expected about 8,000 people to receive their shots.
“I was there this morning and in the first hour and 10 minutes we had vaccinated 1,100 people,” she said. “So things move pretty quickly.”
Other clinics this week will be held at Speedway Village due to the arena being used for state basketball tournament games, Lopez said.
Lopez said the health department continues to work with local participants of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, which to date include only RelyCare and Hy-Vee locations. She said she expects more local pharmacies to participate in the coming weeks.
