The number of COVID-19 related deaths in Douglas County has now reached 100. Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour reported 102 new coronavirus cases and three new deaths on Wednesday.
“I remember the first death,” she says. “It was like a family member of mine. I never would have hoped we would reach 100 deaths.”
There have been more than 77-hundred COVID-19 cases in Douglas County since the start of the pandemic.
She said cases are increasing among the county’s younger population. Positive cases among those age 19 or younger were up 6% to 19%, which might be due to more people crowding into indoor areas like bars, or in some cases are related to softball or basketball teams.
Pour reported the following percentage of positive COVID-19 cases for each age group
- 56% of the county’s cases are among those age 34 and younger, up 9%
- 14% of cases are among those ages 34-44, down 3%
- 14% of cases are among those ages 45-54, also down 3%
- 9% of cases are ages 55-64, down 2%
- 7% of cases are ages 64 and older, down 1%
Pour said it was important to do social distancing and mask-wearing, even during sports. The potential exposure is much less, she said, and may reduce the impact by preventing the entire team from having to quarantine.
Hospitalizations are down, too, Pour said. As of Wednesday the county has 86 COVID-19 patients, 16 of them on ventilators, she said. At its highest point, the county had 163 patients with 49 on ventilators.
Pour said the county has a 78% occupancy of medical beds, meaning there are 309 medical surge beds available; there are also 119 ICU beds available for adults and 7 pediatric beds available.
She said 55% of cases have recovered, “that means we follow up with them, and they are telling us that their symptoms have really diminished and are gone.”