70 Americans to Be Quarantined Just Outside of Lincoln for Coronavirus Safety

Hundreds of Americans are being evacuated from China over a viral outbreak will be quarantined in Texas and Nebraska.

Officials said Thursday that 70 Americans will be flown into Omaha and quarantined at a nearby Nebraska National Guard training base. In Texas, Lackland Air For Base was preparing to quarantine as many as 250 people who could arrive soon as Friday.

Officials in both Texas and Nebraska said that all of the evacuees should be healthy when they arrive from Wuhan, China, the center of the new coronavirus outbreak. They will be quarantined for 14 days and monitored closely for any signs of illness.

Dr. Eric Kasowski is the team leader for the quarantine at Camp Ashland, just 30 miles from Lincoln. “The goal of our public health response is to detect cases quickly and prevent further spread of this new virus in the United States,” said Kasowski.

University of Nebraska Medical Center Chancellor Jeffrey Gold also weighed in during a news conference Thursday saying that all of the evacuees should be healthy. “Should someone ever test positive, then appropriate care and treatment will follow,” Gold added.

Governor Pete Ricketts spoke at the news briefing saying that he is “confident that we have the experts here, working with the CDC and our National Guard, to be able to make sure we ar taking care these Americans and their families.” Ricketts also said that he is confident in the job that UNMC can do in fighting the virus. “Of anybody in the world, we have the expertise and the facilities to be able to handle this.”

The National Guard says people going to Camp Ashland are not diagnosed with coronavirus, they were chosen because they’re coming from a high-risk area in China.

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