Labs take longer to report positive COVID-19 cases to the Douglas County Department of Health



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OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The Douglas County Department of Health announced 533 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. As of Tuesday, that number was 128.

So why is the number so drastically different within 24 hours?

“A lab ran a whole week of tests and reported them to a date,” says Dr Adi Pour, Douglas County director of health.

Pour said the Douglas County Department of Health sometimes sees a big difference in day-to-day positive cases.

“It was a bunch of cases going into the health department,” she says.

Indeed, some laboratories have collected all their positive results over a number of days and then reported them to the DCHD.

For this reason, Dr Pour said it’s important to look beyond the daily numbers to get a feel for the county’s trend in positive COVID-19 cases.

“What’s the seven-day average?” Where are our seven-day averages per hundred thousand and we’re at 72 per 100,000 today, so that’s a good trend, “said Pour.

Local positive cases tend to decline overall, she said, but she is also noticing a change in community testing habits and this is playing a small role in the decline in cases.

“We’re finding that testing is probably no longer in the foreground and that we really want to encourage people: testing is really a good thing,” Pour said, especially with Hanukkah already here and Christmas in just over a year. week.

She said it was important to get tested if you plan to attend a rally in order to slow the spread of the community and avoid another spike in local cases.

“It gives you the information you need to make the right decision,” Pour said.

Dr Pour said she feared another spike after the vacation ended, but hoped the Omaha metro community would step up to do the right thing.

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