An additional American who was evacuated to the United States from the Diamond Princess cruise ship is being transferred to UNMC/Nebraska Medicine for monitoring for the coronavirus. This person has tested positive for the disease but was originally being monitored in Texas at Lackland Air Force Base.
This individual is the spouse of one of the 13 people who arrived in Omaha for monitoring and treatment February 17. This person will be taken directly to the National Quarantine Unit on the UNMC/Nebraska Medical Center campus.
Scheduled arrival of this individual is 6:00 p.m. CST February 24th at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. The landing will be handled in similar fashion to previous arrivals, with the plane remaining in an isolated area of Eppley tarmac, with no involvement with the main passenger terminal.
The addition of this person to the group being monitored at UNMC/Nebraska Medicine brings the total here to 14. Twelve people are being monitored in the National Quarantine Unit, while two are receiving care in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Those numbers reflect one person returning earlier today to the National Quarantine Unit after treatment in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Currently 12 people have tested positive for COVID-19 while two remain negative. Those who are negative could leave quarantine March 2.