July 28, 2021 2:30 p.m. (updated July 29, 4:30 a.m.)

A Tsunami of new COVID-19 cases are hitting the local area.

On Wednesday, Douglas County had the second highest number of daily cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with Tuesday being the highest daily number. In addition, Wednesday had the highest number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized since that start of the pandemic, at 24- 20 locally and 4 outside the area. 23 of those were unvaccinated.

41 more people have received new positive test results for COVID-19 in Douglas County and there are 5 new presumptive, as of Wednesday. The Douglas County COVID-19 Recovery Update said the total number of cases is now at 4,423. Of those, 4,218 are people that have received new positive test results and 205 are presumptive. There have been 87 deaths. 287 people are in isolation. 272 people are in quarantine. That means the staff with the Douglas Public Health Network are supporting 559 people that are either in isolation or quarantine. That is an increase of 120 people since Monday.

The Tuesday recap said 56 more people received new positive test results for COVID-19 and there were 2 new presumptive. That is 104 new cases in a two-day period.

County Public Health Officer Dr. Bob Dannenhoffer told News Radio 1240 KQEN that he believes the increase in cases is due to the introduction of the Delta variant into Douglas County. Dannenhoffer said there have been 2 known and 3 suspected introductions, all from other states.

Go to www.douglaspublichealthnetwork.org for more local information about COVID-19.