NEBRASKA, January 7 - Media Contact:  

Taylor Gage, 402-471-1970

Justin Pinkerman, 402-471-1967

Media Release:

Gov. Ricketts, Chief Medical Officer Deliver Update on New Coronavirus Strain

Gov. Ricketts delivers an update on the new strain of the virus.

LINCOLN – During a briefing at the State Capitol this morning, Governor Pete Ricketts and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services delivered a briefing on the new strain of coronavirus recently discovered in the United Kingdom (UK). 

Gov. Ricketts: New U.K. Virus Strain

• In recent weeks, you’ve probably been reading and hearing about a new strain of COVID-19 that was found in the UK and a handful of U.S. states.
• To date, we have not identified it in Nebraska, but it is likely to surface at some point given our proximity to Colorado – one of the states where it has been identified.
• While we believe that this strain could be more easily transmitted, it is not something that we expect will change the tools we use to respond to the pandemic.
• This is still very new, and we’re learning more about it as time goes on.

Dr. Gary Anthone, Chief Medical Officer for the State of Nebraska, delivered a briefing on the new strain of coronavirus.  Dr. Anthone’s slides from the briefing can be found by clicking here.  Video of the news conference can be found by clicking here.