On Sunday afternoon, 70 people were tested for COVID-19 at the free drive through testing site in Alliance on Sunday afternoon.
Testing sites popped up throughout the Panhandle over the weekend, wrapping up in Gordon on Monday evening. There were 95 people tested in Chadron, which saw its first positive COVID-19 case over the weekend. In Bridgeport, 64 people were tested; in Gordon, there were 73; in Oshkosh, there were 76 and in Sidney, there were 75.
At the COVID-19 Unified Command daily briefing on Monday, Paulette Schnell Scotts Bluff County Health Department Director said the type of tests used at the sites were send outs, which is what is used for tests at hospitals. The tests were sent to the state lab.
“It takes up to 72 hours to get results back,” said Schnell.
The results from the drive through testing were not available as of press time. Schnell said when a positive case is identified, health officials launch an investigation to determine close contacts to the person tested positive.
“We step through that process and identify who those people are, and how much contact they had,” Schnell said. “We always look at that more than 10 minutes less than six feet apart rule as we go through those contacts and those places a person has been. We then identify those people and reach out to those people who are the contacts and talk to them about the contact they had with this person.”
Schnell said the coronavirus has an incubation period of 14 days, which is why people who have come into contact with someone who has had the virus is asked to quarantine for that long. Schnell said their goal is to respect the privacy of the people involved.
“Through this process, we have seen questions asked about employers, place of businesses, those kind of things, and again, that is something we feel like as long as we can identify all those who have had that close contact, then we do not need to announce, like we used to say if you were at WalMart during this period of time, we don’t really need to do that as long as we’ve been able to identify everybody that’s been in contact when it comes to that six feet and for more than 10 minutes.
“With that, also, the Governor’s talked about that he’s been asked to give out specific numbers for each place, like the meat packing places and some of that, and he’s chosen not to do that but to present the overall numbers,” said Schnell. “We also respect each of the employers of the positive people. If they choose to put out something, they can, but we are respecting that privacy of that person and those businesses as we can identify the people and their contacts and contact them directly. We always want to think about if it was you, would we want to have our privacy respected if it was me or you, and we would. So, that’s part of that.”
On Monday, Unified Command issued a press release declaring Box Butte County’s first case as recovered. On April 11, a woman in her 70s tested positive for COVID-19. She had been isolating in her home since April 3, when she returned from traveling.
According to the newly-issued press release, the woman has met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and was deemed to be recovered. She is out of isolation.
As of press time, there have been a total of 75 cases in the Panhandle. On May 5, two new cases in Morrill County and one new case in Scotts Bluff County were confirmed. The Scotts Bluff County case involves a woman in her 40s, and is considered to be a community spread. The Morrill County cases involve two men in their 20s, and are considered close contacts of a previously positive case.
On May 6, Unified Command announced four new cases: a man in his 70s in Cheyenne County, a man in his 20s in Scotts Bluff County, a woman in her 50s and a woman in her 70s, each in Morrill County. Each of those cases, with the exception of the man in Cheyenne County, were deemed to be close contacts of previous cases. An investigation showed that the Cheyenne County case was a community spread.
The case count rose again on May 7 when Unified Command confirmed a woman in her teens as testing positive. She was determined to be a close contact of a previously positive case.
Five more cases were announce later that day in Scotts Bluff County: one woman in her teens, an infant girl, and three men in their teens. All were close contacts of previous cases.
On May 8, Dawes County saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19, involving a man in his 30s. He was determined to be a close contact of a previously positive case. Unified Command confirmed an additional five cases that day: a man in his 70s and a woman in her 40s in Morrill County, and a man and a woman, both in their teens, in Scotts Bluff County. Each case was determined to be a close contact of a previously positive case.
Unified Command announced on May 9 that a man in his 30s in Cheyenne County had tested positive. He was determined to be a close contact of a previously positive case.
A man in his 30s in Scotts Bluff County was confirmed to have COVID-19 on May 11. The case was determined to be travel related.
Health officials are asking people to continue wearing a mask when possible, maintain proper hygiene and to practice social distancing in public.