Not a ranking to wish for, during a pandemic

BEATRICE - During the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic, Saline County far and away had the most positive virus test numbers of any of the five counties in the Public Health Solutions District.

Not any more…

Gage County has nearly equaled Saline County’s total number of positive test cases, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.   As of early Friday, the number of cases in Saline County where persons have tested positive for the virus is 1,627……in Gage County, 1,618.

Gage County’s positive test case number in the past two weeks is almost double that of Saline County……339, compared to 174.

Saline County early on saw by far the most cases, attributed mainly to high test numbers associated with the Smithfield Foods Plant near Crete.   But in recent weeks, other areas of the district have seen growing positive test case numbers as gatherings have become sources of higher virus spread.

As of early Friday, Nebraska’s total Coronavirus positive test case figure stood at 145,774.   To this point, there have been 1,329 deaths from Covid-19, in Nebraska.