The number of COVID-19 cases in the Panhandle has risen to 38 after several new cases have been announced.
On April 14, COVID-19 Unified Command announced the first positive test in Morrill County. Officials said the person who tested positive is a woman in her 70s, and they believe it to be a case of community spread.
Also on April 14, officials confirmed a man in his 60s from Cheyenne County and two women from Scotts Bluff County, one in her 40s and one in her teens, tested positive for COVID-19. Investigation into the cases determined that the Cheyenne County case was travel related. The Scotts Bluff County cases were determined to be a close contact of a previous positive and a community spread case, respectively.
The National Guard conducted testing in both Scotts Bluff and Kimball Counties. All of the Kimball County tests conducted by the National Guard returned negative. In Scotts Bluff County, of the 99 tests conducted, one test returned positive for COVID-19. That case was determined to be a male in his teens.
On April 17, a woman in her teens from Cheyenne County was confirmed to have COVID-19. On April 19, another four cases were announced in Scotts Bluff County: a man in his 50s, two women in their teens and one woman in her 40s.
Officials are investigating each of the cases and have notified close contacts to quarantine. There have been no new community exposures to report as of press time.
As of Tuesday, 786 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in the Panhandle, including a total of 42 in Box Butte County. There have been 18 people who have recovered, including one in Cheyenne County, eight in Scotts Bluff County and nine in Kimball County. The following are the active cases in each county: Box Butte County has one positive case; Cheyenne County has four cases, Kimball County has 10 cases, Morrill County has one case and Scotts Bluff County has 22 cases.
Unified Command officials encourage Panhandle residents to stay home whenever possible, practice proper social distancing, maintain proper hygiene to help hinder the spread of COVID-19.
They also advise anyone who has traveled in or out of the state to quarantine for 14 days.