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Douglas County Health Department gives pandemic update

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A woman's eyeglasses are fogged up as she wears a face mask during a snowfall in Beijing, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. China's death toll from a new virus increased to 304 on Sunday amid warnings from the World Health Organization that other countries need to prepare in the event the disease spreads among their populations as more nations report local infections.

By: KMTV Staff

Posted at 10:10 AM, Dec 21, 2021

and last updated 2021-12-21 12:39:08-05

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Douglas County Health Department Director Dr. Lindsay Huse provided an in-depth COVID-19 update at Tuesday's Board of Commissioners meeting.

“The data is clear that the vaccines are safe and effective,” Health Director Dr. Lindsay Huse said in a statement. “The vaccine also is free. Please make plans to visit one of our clinics in the coming days if you are not already vaccinated.”

Watch below or on thelocal public access YouTube channel.

In addition to the in-depth update was the daily release of COVID and overall hospitalization figures.

On Tuesday, the Douglas County Health Department confirmed 378 new positive COVID-19 tests were received since midnight the previous day. The Health Department received no new death certificates during this period. The number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Douglas County during the pandemic remains at 890.

The Omaha Metropolitan Health Care 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 hospital capacity report to the Douglas County Health Department on a near-daily basis.

According to the most recent local hospital report received Monday afternoon:

Medical and surgical beds are at 85% occupancy with 219 staffed beds available.
Adult ICU beds are occupied at a 93% rate with 22 staffed beds available.
There are 284 individuals hospitalized who have been diagnosed with COVID-19,
- 86 are receiving adult ICU-level care.
Seven pediatric patients are confirmed among those hospitalized.
Pediatric ICU beds are at 88% capacity with 15 beds available.
There are seven additional COVID-19 persons of interest (generally waiting for test results) to report,
- All seven potential cases are adults.
Forty-one individuals who are confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The total number of positive cases reported since March of 2020 is 99,353.

Vaccine clinics this week

Tuesday: