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An employee at the Central Health District has contracted COVID-19, Grand Island Mayor Roger Steele said Monday, adding to the complications of an area already hard hit with coronavirus.
“We don’t know how bad this will get before we see numbers start to fall, but we are not anywhere close to being able to relax," Central Health District director Teresa Anderson said in a statement that Steele read during a press briefing Monday.
This news comes as the Central Health District, which covers Hall, Hamilton and Merrick counties, is the state’s hotspot for the coronavirus with 931 cases, according to health department data.
CHI St. Francis President Ed Hannon said Grand Island's only hospital sees some "glimmers of hope" because it hasn’t been overwhelmed with patients.
The hospital, Hannon estimated, has only admitted around 100 patients with COVID-19 and no more than 15 of 20 ventilators have been used. Currently, the hospital has 120 beds and around 60 are filled. Most of COVID-19 patients in the area, Hannon said, haven’t needed to be hospitalized and have stayed home.
"We're not overwhelmed by any means in this community," Hannon said. "We can continue to take care of the needs."
WATCH: Daily COVID-19 News Update, April 27