Once again, Thanksgiving provided opportunity to be grateful, to create and consume amazing food, share smiles and love to re-invigorate for the work ahead. This year, of course, is different than others in many ways.

As COVID-19 numbers surge and hospitalizations increase across the State, we are reminded about the need to keep ourselves and our families safer by good habits such as frequent handwashing, sanitizing surfaces, and social distancing. If you are ill, stay home. If you are able to, wear a mask when in public spaces where you cannot maintain a 6 foot distance from others. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, quarantine away from others. People experience different levels of illness when contracting the virus, so be certain to do all you can to protect the most vulnerable amongst you.

I am thankful to hear of vaccines on the horizon. Some reports indicate that one or more may be approved as soon as mid-December. Meanwhile, it is important to avoid the “3-Cs”—crowded places, close contact, and confined spaces.

Other good news comes from Dr. Anthone about the breakthrough of monoclonal antibody therapy to target the virus and help prevent persons with the virus from needing to go to the hospital. The State of Nebraska has received its allocation of the antibodies and is in process of getting the antibodies to hospitals throughout the State. The doses have been sent to the hospitals first because they have the capability of administering it on an outpatient basis. Already in use, Dr. Anthone stated that they are hopeful it will help to reduce the need for hospitalization.

COVID-19 in District 17
District 17 has not avoided the surge in numbers of positive COVID-19 cases. Not having issued a newsletter last week, below are the number of cases reported for the periods November 7-13, and November 14-20, 2020.
November 7-13, 2020:
Dakota County: +231 (2864)
Thurston County: +73 (569)
Wayne County: +107 (613)

November 14-20, 2020
Dakota County +189 (3053)
Thurston County: +62 (631)
Wayne County +100 (713)

At a press briefing last week, the Governor invited Ashley Newman, Chief Data Strategist for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) forward to speak about the importance and status of Contact Tracing to slow the spread of the virus. She reminded the public that contact tracing is a confidential process that starts with a positive test result being reported to the state or local health department. After that, a trained contact tracer calls the person who received a positive test result and asks them a series of questions about whether they are experiencing symptoms, know when and where they were exposed and who they may have been in close contact with.

Because of a rise in positive tests, contact tracers in Nebraska have been finding it challenging to deal with the high volume of work. To facilitate the work, the State has temporarily increased contact tracing staff, activating the Department’s reserve contact tracers from earlier this year. The State has also implemented temporary measure such as reducing the number of questions asked during the interview, reducing the number of call attempts to reach people, and focusing on calling those who test positive for the virus. Additionally, the State has temporarily suspended calling close contacts of positive cases and is asking people who have tested positive to notify their close contacts.

Legislative Look ahead: With the increased activity in the COVID-19 cases and antibody treatments here now, as well as the vaccines on the horizon, it is hard to say exactly what the 2021 Session of the Legislature is going to look like. What we do know is that we are expecting to convene and have new and returning members sworn in on January 6, 2021. I imagine that we will have much more information between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I will pass on that information in my weekly update as I am able. Meanwhile, my office continues to work toward the next Session on issues of transparency, public safety, protecting our children, ethanol production, expanding rural broadband access, and further tax relief. These remain the issues that best describe what constituents in District 17 have asked me to address in the upcoming session.

From my family to yours- we wish you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful for so much-the bounty of the land, the memories we share, and the blessings of loved ones near and far. I am also thankful for the opportunity to serve residents of District 17 for the next four years.

As always, it is of great importance that I hear from my constituents to effectively do my job as your voice in the Legislature. I encourage you to contact me and I look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me by phone at 402-471-2716 or by email at jalbrecht@leg.ne.gov