Nebraska sets up new lab, expects to add virus testing sites

LINCOLN — The State of Nebraska is expanding testing for COVID-19, with TestNebraska mass testing sites already open in Omaha and Grand Island, and a new lab opening to process those tests.
Nebraska has opened a new lab to analyze the results of about 3,000 coronavirus tests per day, and will launch more testing sites beyond the ones currently operating in Omaha and hard-hit Grand Island. CHI Health St. Elizabeth in Lincoln will serve as the state’s new lab under the TestNebraska program.
Gov. Pete Ricketts says the lab will greatly expand the state’s testing capacity. Nebraska officials want to conduct more tests to get a better sense of where the coronavirus is how quickly it’s spreading. To receive an appointment to receive a test, Nebraskans must complete the screening questions at TestNebraska.com.
Nebraska did some of its social-distancing restrictions in more than half its counties on Monday, with more counties to be added next Monday. However, Governor Ricketts is imploring residents of those more heavily regulated areas to stay put. Ricketts is asking residents in hard-hit areas, such as Grand Island and Dakota City, not to venture out of their regions out of concern that they might spread the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, state prison officials say another staff member at the Nebraska State Penitentiary has tested positive for COVID-19 infection. The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services announced the newest case in a news release Tuesday, marking the system’s fifth confirmed case of the virus. Department Director Scott Frakes says the staff member is isolating at home, and anyone who may have had close contact with the employee in the last three days will be directed to self-quarantine until they are medically cleared to return to work.
The department says no inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. They do not say how many inmates have been tested.
In northeast Nebraska, two Nebraska meat processing plants have temporarily closed due to a surge in coronavirus cases among their workers. A Tyson Foods pork plant in Madison and a Cargill beef plant in Schuyler both announced Monday that they would temporarily shut down production to deep clean the plants.
Tyson said it will await the test results for workers who had been tested for COVID-19 last weekend before deciding when it will reopen. The plant closures will affect more than 3,000 workers, and will likely slow the ability of producers who sell to these plants to get hogs and cattle to slaughter.
The State of Nebraska currently has over 6,400 cases of COVID-19 infection; about 36,000 tests have been completed. 28 of Nebraska’s 93 counties have yet to report a lab-confirmed case. 82 Nebraskans have died as a result of the virus.