Travel remains the predominant way Lincoln's eight confirmed patients contracted the coronavirus, interim Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Director Pat Lopez said Monday.
The two newest patients — identified as a woman in her 40s and an older child — were both quarantined after respective trips to major U.S. cities and symptoms reported several days later, Lopez said during a news conference.
The child went on a family vacation to Washington, D.C., and New York City on March 6-14 and began experiencing symptoms a week later, Lopez said.Â
The other new patient, a woman in her 40s, was in Nashville, Tennessee, from March 12-15 and began experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 three days after her return. She self-quarantined and is now in isolation.Â
The relatives and close contacts of both patients have self-quarantined, Lopez said.Â
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Of the city's eight confirmed cases, only one patient contracted the virus through community spread.Â
He is the only person hospitalized and his condition has improved, Lopez said.
Seventeen tests taken in Lancaster County remain pending at the state's public health lab in Omaha, and health department staff continue to monitor 113 people because of their travel or exposure to a known patient, Lopez said.Â
Three of the people tested by staff at Bryan Health's drive-thru clinic last week have tested positive for COVID-19 and are among the eight cases confirmed in the county, said Bryan Medical Center CEO John Woodrich.
Woodrich said that out of 244 people tested for COVID-19 last week at its drive-thru clinic, there have been the three positives and 40 negatives, with 201 results still pending.
On Tuesday, CHI Health will launch its own drive-thru coronavirus testing site at Lincoln North Star High School that prioritizes tests for health care workers, first responders, nursing home staff, correctional center staff and the residents of group homes with vulnerable populations.Â
Like the protocol at Bryan's drive-thru site, tests are only available to people with a doctor's order and an appointment, CHI Health announced in a news release Monday.
Increased testing and ramped-up test analysis capacity will likely lead to reports of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city on a daily basis, Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said.
She hopes people will not see that and think social distancing measures are not working.Â
Rather, Gaylor Baird hopes people understand the rise in cases is part of the nature of an epidemic and the goal is to keep cases from rising too much, too quickly and overwhelming the medical system here, she said.Â
"Let them serve as a reminder that we cannot let our guard down," the mayor said.Â