As of Thursday morning, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nevada County had reached 3,925. There are 112 new cases since last Thursday, Feb. 18, indicating a 3% increase.

Of the 3,925 total cases, 3,698 have been released from isolation and 153 are presently active. There have been 74 deaths by COVID-19 in Nevada County, none in the last three weeks.

Officials from Nevada County’s Department of Public Health encouraged residents to sign up for MyTurn to receive notification of vaccine eligibility and open appointments. Visit myturn.ca.gov or call 1-833-422-4255 to register.

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According to a press release issued by the county on Feb. 15, 15,000 of the available vaccines on-hand were committed for appointments this week.

Nevada and Placer counties are six weeks into the purple tier. Both regions’ seven-day positivity rate dropped significantly since the pandemic’s third peak in December, but the case rate per 100,000 people keep the counties in the most restrictive tier.

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As of Thursday morning, Placer County reported 19,702 COVID-19 cases, indicating a 1% rise in cases since last Thursday. The county’s COVID-19 dashboard indicates that there are 245 new cases this week.

Placer County’s death toll rose to 231 — eight of which took place in the last week.

Placer County may reflect a lag in reporting its data.

As of Feb. 17, Placer County District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said the county ranks seventh in the state for vaccine distribution per capita. Over 80,000 doses had been administered for people who fall in Phase 1A. Gustafson said for Placer County, that now includes law enforcement and educators.

Gustafson said residents of Placer County who qualify can text “PLACERVACCINE” to 898-211 in order to schedule an appointment.

County officials receive weekly updates about their rolling allotment of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Safeway, CVS and Walgreens are also receiving vaccine shipments from the federal government. The Tahoe Forest Health System has been allocated a portion of the allotments granted to both Placer and Nevada counties.

Rebecca O’Neil is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun and The Union, a sister publication of the Sun.