The Douglas County Health Department on Thursday reported 667 new positive COVID-19 tests were received since Monday’s report when the case count stood at 747. A week ago, the health department reported 593 new cases over three days. By comparison, the one-day case count on July 28 of last year was 100 new cases with 59 hospitalizations.
Phil Rooney, the health department spokesman, said in an email that a silver lining to the COVID news is that there are only three people currently on ventilators. The report from last year on July 28, when cases were trending down, indicates that there were 16 patients on ventilators. Rooney says that points to less severity in the current infections.
The number of positive cases since March of 2020 now totals 161,468. The Health Department has not received any new COVID-19-related death certificates since Monday’s report. The number of COVID-19-related deaths in Douglas County during the pandemic remains at 1,140.
The case numbers reported do not include at-home tests. The county health department still encourages Douglas County residents to report their at-home test results because health officials do review them.
The Omaha Metropolitan Healthcare Coalition — which encompasses Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders, Dodge, and Washington counties in Nebraska, plus hospitals in Council Bluffs and Missouri Valley, Iowa — releases updated COVID-19 case counts and a hospital occupancy report to the Douglas County Health Department on Mondays and Thursdays. The overall numbers include both COVID-19 patients and hospitalized patients for all other illnesses and injuries unless otherwise noted.
According to the most recent local hospital update received by DCHD Wednesday:
- There were 142 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, including five pediatric cases.
- Thirteen adults were receiving ICU-level care.
- Three people who were confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19 were on a ventilator.
- Medical and surgical beds were occupied at an 89% occupancy rate with 148 staffed beds available for all patients.
- Adult ICU beds were occupied at an 87% rate with 38 staffed beds available for all patients.
- Pediatric ICU beds were at 90% of capacity with 13 beds available.
- There was one additional adult COVID-19 person of interest.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage.
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox.