Madison Wheeler
CONTRIBUTOR
Passengers on a flight from Wuhan, China, have arrived in Nebraska and are being held in quarantine, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Wuhan is thought to be where the coronavirus started, and passengers from the area are being screened and monitored for symptoms. The CDC has been working to prevent the spread of the virus.
Passengers from China are being brought to four states, including California, Texas and Nebraska. The passengers who arrived in Nebraska are being held at Camp Ashland Training Site, an Army National Guard facility located near Ashland, Nebraska. The quarantine order began the day these passengers left Wuhan and will continue for up to 14 days.
The novel, or new, coronavirus, is being called 2019-nCoV. It’s party of a large family of viruses that include influenza and the common cold, said Dr. Mark Rupp. Rupp is the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
He recently answered some questions about the coronavirus, including quarantine procedures, saying that people being held would have no signs of the virus on entering quarantine.
“We want to keep people in a protective environment during that 14-day period of potential incubation where if they do develop illness, we pick it up quickly and we make sure they aren’t spreading it to anybody else,” Rupp said.
UNO Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold recently emailed the student body in an update about the resources available on campus. The email mentions that education abroad trips to China have been cancelled.
“The university is in contact with those students who are impacted and will work with them to adjust their academic plans for the semester,” the email read.
The World Health Organization has confirmed 24,554 cases of the coronavirus and 492 deaths, as of January 5.
