The variety of COVID-19 instances in Nebraska ticked up final week, however the weekly whole remained comparatively unchanged from ranges seen all through the summer season.
Nebraska recorded 2,936 new virus instances for the week ending Friday, based on information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. That was 4% larger than the two,818 the week earlier than and 10% above the degrees of two weeks earlier.
Nebraska’s two-week rise is the Eleventh-highest within the nation, as instances are trending downward nationally and in most states. U.S. instances are down 13% over the previous two weeks.
Nonetheless, Nebraska figures present the beginning of the varsity yr to this point has produced no sizable spike in instances. Circumstances usually have ranged between just below 3,000 and 4,000 each week for greater than three months.
Most space faculties not are monitoring instances as carefully as they did earlier within the pandemic. The Omaha Public Colleges shuttered its COVID-19 dashboard in July. The Lincoln Public Colleges district, nonetheless, nonetheless maintains a dashboard. It indicated a peak for the varsity yr to date of 324 optimistic instances amongst workers and college students throughout the week ending Aug. 27. That represents about half of the 645 optimistic instances since information assortment began Aug. 14.
Persons are additionally studying…
It’s extensively acknowledged that official tallies are an undercount of the particular variety of instances on the market. Many individuals not are testing for the virus or are utilizing at-home assessments, the outcomes of which aren’t included in official case counts. Just below 25% of formally tallied assessments in Nebraska final week have been optimistic.
In the meantime, the primary of the brand new, up to date booster photographs for COVID-19 have begun to roll out. The brand new photographs are formulated to guard in opposition to each the unique pressure of COVID-19 and the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, that are dominant within the U.S.
Hospitalizations have been progressively trending downward in Nebraska for the previous month. A median of 189 sufferers have been hospitalized with COVID final week, down from 200 the week earlier than.
The CDC added no new deaths to Nebraska’s whole final week. In all, the state has recorded 4,455 confirmed or possible deaths and greater than 530,000 instances within the 2½-year pandemic.
World-Herald workers writers Lauren Wagner and Joe Dejka contributed to this report.
10 stats that present how COVID-19 impacted meals supply companies
10 stats that present how COVID-19 impacted meals supply companies
The COVID-19 pandemic upended total industries as metropolis shutdowns and work-from-home schedules introduced touring and out of doors eating to a sudden standstill. The hospitality, journey, and restaurant industries needed to take drastic measures to remain afloat.
For eating places, there was nonetheless a wholesome demand for ordering meals to eat at dwelling. Meal supply companies noticed large progress as eating places turned to platforms like Postmates and DoorDash to maintain serving clients. One research printed by the Columbia Enterprise Faculty discovered that the pandemic alone was accountable for 70% of the trade’s progress from 2019 to 2020. Many customers additionally turned to meal equipment subscriptions as a solution to not simply supply meals for meals, but additionally to make making ready and cooking their very own meals an entertaining exercise. As meal kits grew in reputation, many corporations in that area noticed substantial progress.
Throughout the nation, the pandemic shifted how we store and eat. Because the restaurant trade emerges from COVID-19, it stays to be seen which of those eating habits will drop in reputation—and which stick.
To raised perceive the far-reaching influence of the pandemic, Routific compiled this record of particular person statistics and charts that collectively inform a narrative of how COVID-19 spurred progress throughout the meals supply market, from restaurant meal supply to meal kits. Information is gathered from particular person firm experiences and market experiences from sources together with PitchBook, eMarketer, and Edison Traits.
US meals supply transactions grew quickly in 2020
Previous to the pandemic, the U.S. meals supply service trade skilled a progress fee of 85% from January 2018 to February 2020, based on a report by e-commerce market analysis agency Edison Traits. Even within the face of such trending progress, the pandemic turned out to be a giant turning level within the trade, remarkably spurring even larger will increase than anticipated.
Within the early days of the pandemic, individuals more and more opted for meals supply as an alternative of eating out. Eating places leveraged meals supply companies to outsource the duty throughout a time after they have been merely attempting to outlive. These two behavioral shifts mixed to generate large progress within the trade. From February to December 2020 alone, when restrictions and lockdowns have been first carried out, meals supply transactions grew a shocking 96%, indicating that the pandemic was accountable for this meteoric progress.
Transaction progress additionally occurred globally
The pandemic had an analogous impact in different nations as properly. The identical Edison Traits report included annual progress year-over-year from April 2020 to April 2021 for 4 nations: the U.S., U.Okay., Canada, and Australia.
The report discovered that the U.Okay.—which had a string of “keep at dwelling” orders from March 2020 to December 2021—had an enormous enhance in meals supply service utilization. Not solely did extra individuals change to meals supply, however in addition they spent extra every month on it as properly.
Though some suppose the pattern is right here to remain—even after the preponderance of COVID-related lockdowns and restrictions has handed—individuals within the U.Okay. are beginning to return to in-person eating, which can drive eating places and meals wholesalers to rethink their gross sales methods as soon as once more.
Funding in meals know-how greater than doubled
Enterprise capital investments in food-related know-how hit $39.3 billion in 2021, based on a report by personal market analysis agency PitchBook. “Meals tech” is a broad class that features bioengineered meals, suppliers, know-how, discovery, and intermediaries and supply. However greater than half of 2021 meals tech VC was invested into on-line grocers in addition to apps and marketplaces (eating places and different meals supply) to assist them construct a aggressive infrastructure. These classes obtained $18.4 billion and $6.8 billion in investments, respectively.
Whereas meals tech investments general waned within the first quarter of 2022, momentum continued for meals intermediaries and supply companies, which garnered greater than $2 billion throughout 74 VC offers, based on one other PitchBook report. Many of those investments go towards improved comfort, addressing adjustments in client dietary preferences, meals personalization efforts, and leveraging robots to ease labor shortages.
Grocery and meals supply apps grew quicker than different app classes within the US
Through the pandemic, the significance of smartphones elevated as individuals used them for staying in contact with others, gaming and leisure, and getting fundamental wants. The pandemic spurred an increase of curiosity in utilizing grocery and meals supply companies, and customers began downloading these apps in droves.
In line with analysis agency eMarketer, grocery app downloads elevated greater than 40% in 2020, with Instacart being a primary participant on this class. Meals supply service apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub grew almost 33%.
Analysts do not suppose this pattern will final, nonetheless, after seeing a slowdown in 2021.
DoorDash earned $3.3 billion in its preliminary public providing
DoorDash, a meals supply chief, had an enormous preliminary public providing fueled by the pandemic. DoorDash inventory opened at $102 per share on Dec. 9, 2020, on its solution to a first-day shut at $189.51. It was one of many largest IPOs of 2020, fueled partially by buyers’ perception that despite the fact that DoorDash was dropping cash, it was a secure inventory guess due to client habits throughout the pandemic.
Though its inventory had fallen to $71.32 as of shut on July 11, 2022, DoorDash is nonetheless experiencing income progress. In its first quarter 2022 earnings report, the corporate’s income rose 35% to $1.46 billion, larger than analysts’ predictions. Though the corporate’s progress fee just isn’t as excessive because it was throughout the peak of the pandemic, client utilization remains to be sturdy regardless of eating places and shops reopening, a sign that client habits has modified.
Uber acquired Postmates for roughly $2.65 billion
As meals supply was gaining momentum throughout the pandemic, meals supply marketplaces appeared to acquisitions as a method to realize market share. In July 2020, Uber acquired rival Postmates, simply earlier than Postmates went public. The deal allowed Uber to increase its geographic footprint, in addition to its service choices, as Postmates additionally delivered different objects along with meals. Uber grew to become the second-largest meals supply service within the U.S. with the elevated market share the deal gave the corporate.
In a good bigger merger, Simply Eat Takeaway acquired Grubhub in an all-stock deal valued at $7.3 billion
As meals supply was gaining momentum throughout the pandemic, meals supply marketplaces sought to realize market share via acquisition, and in 2020 Grubhub was a giant goal. When value and regulatory points halted Uber’s potential acquisition of Grubhub, Simply Eat Takeaway stepped in for this $7.3 billion acquisition, which was introduced in June 2020. The deal gave the European entity—which had been shaped by a merger of Simply Eat and Takeaway.com earlier within the yr—a presence in the US. The deal closed on June 15, 2021.
This merger could have confirmed to be a mistake, nonetheless, as lower than a yr later there are rumors that Simply Eat Takeaway could dump GrubHub amidst the specter of a world recession. A scarcity of synergies between the 2 entities and a shift in client habits in several components of the world that is triggered a downturn so as quantity are a few of the causes behind the potential divestiture.
Meals supply leaders Uber and DoorDash noticed spike in income throughout pandemic
Uber’s supply income grew 81% between 2018 and 2019—wholesome by any normal—however from 2019 to 2020 that fee pole-vaulted to 179% as extra individuals ordered takeout amid COVID-19. Uber’s supply section remains to be attracting new clients to its platform. Uber Eats income now exceeds that of its ride-hailing arm, reaching $8.3 billion in 2021, a 72% year-over-year enhance.
DoorDash additionally elevated its progress fee, although to a lesser diploma. From 2019 to 2020, the corporate’s income rose from $885 million to $2.88 billion. Though that progress has slowed, the corporate is now incomes extra income in a single fiscal quarter than it did in all of 2019.
US meal equipment subscription gross sales grew 85% in 2020
The expansion fee for U.S. meal equipment subscription gross sales almost doubled in 2020, and since then has skyrocketed with 2022 estimates approaching $7.63 billion. Meal kits accounted for almost 20% of subscription e-commerce gross sales, they usually have continued to realize share of the subscription class for the reason that pandemic bump.
Development has since slowed on this section, but it surely hasn’t stalled: eMarketer tasks that meal equipment subscription gross sales will enhance one other 17% in 2022. That is quicker than the 15% progress fee anticipated for the subscription market as an entire, based on the report.
HelloFresh grew lively clients a report 78%
From 2019 to 2020, meal equipment market chief HelloFresh got here near doubling the speed at which it grew its buyer base. It added 2.32 million clients that yr, rising to five.29 million lively clients. The onset of COVID-19 actually contributed to the uptake, as that progress fee has since stabilized.
Shoppers’ return to pre-pandemic life hasn’t resulted in a lack of clients although. In truth, HelloFresh’s buyer base remains to be rising, albeit at 36.5% from 2020 to 2021, which is a decrease progress fee than pre-pandemic ranges. Nonetheless, that marked a further 1.93 million lively customers on the platform.
This story initially appeared on Routific and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
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