Covid-risk in Lincoln drops from orange to mid-yellow on the risk dial

Lincoln, Nebraska – Health departments across the country use to represent the Covid-19 risk on a risk-colored dial, a practice that almost every single health department nationwide follows.

In the last couple of weeks, the number of new Covid-19 cases in the Lincoln area is declining and therefore, the Covid-19 risk on the risk dial has fallen to mid orange which means that the risk of spreading the virus in the community is moderate.

The last time when the risk dial showed mid-yellow was late October and this is surely an encouraging factor regarding the spread of the virus in the area. As we already reported last week when the risk dial was moved to mid orange, green is the lowest risk and red represents highest virus risk.

The update was made on Tuesday by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department when Health Director Pat Lopez also announced that LLCHD is no longer recommending that members of the general public wear masks indoors.

However, this recommendation doesn’t apply for those who have Covid-19 symptoms or those who have been in close contact with who had tested positive on the virus. Those should continue wear mask while indoors.

Lopez said almost every indicator used to determine the Risk Dial has improved over the past few weeks in Lancaster County.

“We’re happy to see sustained improvement in our local situation,” Lopez said. “At the same time, we’re also aware of how quickly our situation can change. The future of this pandemic remains uncertain, but right now, we are very encouraged by our progress.”

The numbers in Lincoln area are now declining for six consecutive weeks. The risk dial moves depending on the trend in the last three weeks. As per the reports, cases dropped from 430 the week ending February 19 to 264 the week ending February 26.

The latest public health guidance and vaccine information is available at covid19.lincoln.ne.gov or by calling the Health Department hotline at 402-441-8006.