Tuesday Dec. 22 COVID-19 update: Douglas County reports 274 new cases

(WOWT) - Here is a summary of new cases and other COVID-19 stats reported today by health officials across Nebraska & Iowa.

Douglas County

The Douglas County Health Department reported 274 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The average number of cases reported over the last 7 days is 376.

The total number of cases since the pandemic began is now 49,921.

The number of deaths in Douglas County remains at 440.

As of their most recent report, medical and surgical beds were at 76 percent occupancy, with 376 beds available. ICU beds are occupied at a 67 percent rate with 111 beds available.

A total of 27,450 residents have recovered since the start of the pandemic.

On Sunday, DCHD reported the seven-day positivity rate at 29.1%, up from 28.5% the week prior.

Lincoln reports four more deaths

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department on Tuesday announced that four more residents had died from COVID-19, bringing the community death toll there to 141.

A man in his 60s, another man in his 90s who had been hospitalized, and two women in their 70s and 80s — all residents of long-term care facilities — are the latest victims.

LLCHD also reported 189 new confirmed cases Tuesday; the health district has reported 21,295 cases since the start of the pandemic.

The most recent average 7-day positivity rate in the Lincoln area is 26%. There are 90 people hospitalized with COVID-19; eight of them are on ventilators there. Of those, 53 are from Lancaster County, and 37 are from other communities.

In our countdown, this post showing how CHI Health #nurses are finding creative ways of keeping family in touch during #COVID19 is #9. Pictured are nurses at CHI Health Midlands who used a donated iPad so a mother & daughter could connect while mom was in the hospital. pic.twitter.com/AXyGC2OWic
— CHI Health (@CHIhealth) December 22, 2020

We continue to vaccinate hundreds of frontline healthcare heroes. We don’t take for granted their selfless dedication, and they don’t take for granted the opportunity to have this protection. #CovidVaccine #Pediatrics #ChildrensStrong pic.twitter.com/I8AMm0RJQo
— Children's (@ChildrensOmaha) December 21, 2020

REFERENCE NOTE -- 6 News pulls data from Nebraska and Iowa COVID-19 dashboards at 6 p.m. daily. All other reports in this post come from official news releases from area health departments and other authorities as stated.