NEBRASKA- Nebraska’s tally of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths last week hit their highest levels since January.

In light of that, public health directors in the state urged residents to get vaccinated against COVID — and if vaccinated, boosted — to help combat the region’s ongoing delta variant surge.

The state posted 6,461 new cases for the week ending Friday, November 19th, up from 6,137 the previous week. That marked the fourth straight weekly increase for the state, according to a World-Herald analysis of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Hospitalizations were up sharply, with a daily average of 448 COVID patients occupying beds. That’s up from 417 from the week before.

An average of 64 patients a day were admitted to the state’s hospitals with COVID, up from 48 the week before. On Saturday, 493 Nebraskans were hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the state’s hospital capacity dashboard. That also was the highest figure since early January.

Nebraska also reported 60 more deaths, up from 47 the previous week. Last week’s total was the largest weekly tally since mid-January when the nation’s vaccination campaign was just getting off the ground.

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