Nebraska's COVID-19 case count dropped again last week, extending a nine-month low and a first-in-pandemic winter respite from the virus.
The state reported 800 cases last week, down 13.4% from 924 the previous week, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.Â
The latest tally marked the second week in a row that new cases in Nebraska dropped below 1,000, a point not seen since the first week of May. Nebraska's case rate was the fifth-lowest among states.
That comes amid another bit of good news in the fight against the virus. While health officials have stressed that updated booster shots provide significant protection against serious illness, the CDC last week reported that the shots — now available for most people 5 and older — were at least 40% effective against symptomatic infection from the highly transmissible omicron subvariants XBB.1.5 and XBB.
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Effectiveness against infection among fully vaccinated adults who had received the shot within the previous three months was 49% among those ages 18 to 49; 40% among those 50 to 64; and 43% among those over 65.
"Findings from this study suggest that bivalent booster doses are continuing to provide additional protection against symptomatic infection for at least the first 3 months after vaccination in persons who had previously received 2, 3 or 4 monovalent vaccine doses, which supports recommendations to continue to increase bivalent booster coverage," the authors wrote.Â
The CDC described the study, drawn from nationwide pharmacies, as the first estimate of the updated booster shot's effectiveness against infection with XBB.1.5, which rapidly rose to dominance in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Nationally, the subvariant made up a projected 61.3% of positive samples during the week ending Jan. 28.
In the region made up of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, XBB.1.5 accounted for an estimated 24.4% of samples. In Nebraska, however, the subvariant made up an estimated 4% of positive cases for the week ending Jan. 21, according to preliminary data from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.Â
Nebraska's current low case count marks a first for a COVID winter. Lulls have occurred in during spring, summer and early fall but never before when the weather has turned colder and people have retreated indoors and gathered for the holidays.
To be sure, case counts no longer are considered as accurate a measure of virus activity as they once were. Many people no longer are testing or are using at-home tests that aren’t reported to health departments.
But COVID-related hospitalizations also continued to decrease in Nebraska and much of the rest of the country, with a few exceptions such as Tennessee and Alabama.Â