Nevada County Public Health officials are cautiously celebrating the ongoing drop in COVID cases which had peaked in early September as a result of the Delta variant surge. Public Health Director Jill Blake shared numbers during a press meeting Wednesday afternoon.

The case count peaked at 488 the first week of September 3 but has been ticking downward. However, even with a nearly 70 percent decrease in new cases, the case rate of 14.8 cases per day is still statistically higher than many parts of the state.

The 100th death was added to the Nevada County Coronavirus Dashboard almost exactly 19 months since the state first shutdown the economy because of COVID in March of 2020; and 4 months since it loosened restrictions on June 15th.

However, on another positive note, the holiday season should be more enjoyable than last year’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year celebrations because more is known about the virus, vaccine availability, how to interact safely and treatment if infected.