As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the Panhandle, health officials have placed the region under the high risk category for spread. 

On the county map, Cheyenne, Kimball, Scotts Bluff, Sioux, Box Butte, Dawes and Sheridan county are now in the orange, or high risk, category. 

All other counties in the Panhandle Public Health District (PPHD) coverage area (Banner, Morrill, Deuel, Garden and Grant county) remain in the yellow, or moderate risk, category.

You can find guidance from PPHD on what precautions to take based on what category you are in here. Guidance for schools can be found here.

Health officials also confirmed 77 new cases and 42 new recoveries across the region Monday. 

A breakdown of new cases is as follows: 

Scotts Bluff - 20 new cases

Dawes - 19 new cases

Box Butte - 14 new cases

Cheyenne and Sheridan - 8 new cases each

Deuel - 3 new cases

Garden - 2 new cases

Morrill, Sioux and Kimball - 1 new case each

A breakdown of recoveries is as follows: 

Dawes - 11 recoveries

Box Butte - 9 recoveries

Sheridan - 6 recoveries

Cheyenne, Kimball and Scotts Bluff - 4 recoveries each

Garden and Sioux - 2 recoveries each

TOTALS: 

Positive cases: 1,106

Active: 185

Recovered: 910

Deaths: 11

Active Hospitalizations: 17

Cumulative Positivity Rate: 6.7 percent