The Superior Express -

South Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD) officials reported 17 new lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the 4-county health district to 263, including totals of 235 in Adams County, 22 in Clay County, 5 in Webster County, and one case in Nuckolls County.

The first case in Nuckolls County is a male in his 50s.

New cases in Adams County are four males (one under 20, two in their 20s and in his 50s) and four females (one in her 30s, three in their 40s).

New cases in Clay County include

eight males (two under 20, four in their 20s, two in their 40s).

South Heartland continues to conduct contact investigations for individuals who test positive and live in Adams, Clay, Nuckolls or Webster counties.

“South Heartland’s ongoing investigations have been unable to determine the source of the exposure for some of the previously reported cases in Clay County,” said Michele Bever, SHDHD executive director.

“Therefore, we are reporting there is community transmission of COVID-19 in Clay County. This underscores the need to continue to stay at home as much as possible and to practice social distancing and prevention everywhere we need to go,” she said.

Bever said the health department expected additional cases this week because of residents participating in the National Guard testing event in Hastings on Monday and Tuesday. This event was a resource shared with SHDHD through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS).

“We have been encouraging testing of healthcare workers, first responders, people who work in critical infrastructure businesses, as well as anyone experiencing symptoms or who had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19,” Bever said. “The National Guard conducted 342 tests over the past two days, which will help us understand the level of the virus in our communities.”

Bever also reported that SHDHD recently began receiving test results for South Heartland residents who are taking advantage of the TestNebraska COVID-19 testing program. She said there are four TestNebraska sites currently operating in Nebraska, with one stationed in Grand Island. Individuals may go to the TestNebraska.com website to take a survey that determines their risk. Those at higher risk are invited to make an appointment for a free COVID-19 test at one of the drive-through testing sites.

South Heartland District case counts by county are updated daily on SHDHD’s COVID webpage: https://southheartlandhealth.org/public-health-data/corona-virus.html. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides daily updates to Nebraska’s coronavirus COVID-19 cases on their Data Dashboard at http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.