COVID-19 Risk Dial Remains in Mid-Yellow

Published on April 13, 2021

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD) today announced that the COVID-19 Risk Dial will remain in mid-yellow for a ninth consecutive week as key indicators continue to remain steady.  The yellow position on the dial means that the risk of the virus spreading and the public health impact in our community are moderate.  On the color-coded dial, red represents the highest risk of COVID-19 spread, and green represents the lowest risk. The dial is updated every Tuesday. 

The position of the Risk Dial is based on multiple local indicators and information from the previous three weeks: 

  • Over the last nine weeks, the number of new weekly cases has averaged 337. The number of cases dropped from 360 the week ending April 3 to 346 the week ending April 10.    
  • The local positivity rate has also stayed fairly flat for the past nine weeks at about 4 to 5 percent. 
  • The number of  COVID-9 patients hospitalized locally has increased, especially among Lancaster County residents.  An average of 14 local residents were hospitalized the end of March. Today, 18 of the 27 COVID-19 patients hospitalized locally are from Lancaster County.

LLCHD has added two indicators to the metrics that help determine the position of the COVID-19 Risk Dial:

  • The three-week rolling average of deaths per week peaked in December at 17, but has how decreased to two, which is in the yellow or moderate range on the dial.   
  • LLCHD has set a goal of having 75 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.  Currently, about 39.5 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, which is in the red range on the dial.

For more information, visit COVID19.lincoln.ne.gov or call the Health Department hotline at 402-441-8006.

 

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