Lincoln-Lancaster County Raises COVID Risk Dial to Elevated Yellow

The Lincoln-Lancaster Health Department has moved the local COVID risk dial to “elevated yellow” for the first time in six months. The 7-day rolling average of new cases has risen from nine cases on July 1st to 69 new cases a day this past Saturday. The positivity rate has gone from 3% at the beginning of July to over 10% at the end of last week. At a briefing on Tuesday, Health Director Pat Lopez said the delta variant of the disease is the culprit.

“The delta variant is different,” Lopez said. “It spreads more easily and quickly than other variants and it’s more likely to cause severe illness, particularly among people who are unvaccinated. This is not the same virus we were dealing with months ago.”

More than 500 new cases of COVID have been reported so far this month in Lincoln and Lancaster County. Lopez said so far, no directed health measures have changed, but health officials are keeping a close on the rising rates of new infections.