Two family members of the Omaha woman who became the first Nebraskan to test positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday also have tested positive for the disease, the Douglas County Health Department said Sunday evening.
The family members have been in self-quarantine since Friday, the health department added. Other people who have been in close contact with the woman have tested negative for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
"We expected this to happen," said Dr. Adi Pour, the county's health director. "This demonstrates the importance of contact investigations and shows how well they work."
According to the Douglas County Health Department, the two individuals, the second and third cases in Nebraska outside of those brought from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, had limited exposure to other people.
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Epidemiologists have developed a list of contacts who may have had contact with the woman and are reaching out to them individually about the health risks and how they can protect themselves and others.
The confirmed spread of the virus comes two days after state and local health officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on Friday.
The woman, who lives alone in an apartment in Omaha, is believed to have contracted the virus while traveling with her father to the United Kingdom from Feb. 18-27, an epidemiologist at Methodist Hospital said.
The woman started showing symptoms on Feb. 24 and was brought to the hospital in severe respiratory distress, with pneumonia-like symptoms and low blood-oxygen levels.
She was later taken to the biocontainment unit on the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Campus and said to be "very, seriously ill." Nebraska Medicine on Sunday did not identify the individuals in the biocontainment center, but said in a daily report one patient in the center remains in critical condition, while another is in good condition.
Over the weekend, state health officials have tried to track her movements since she started showing symptoms. They included a Special Olympics basketball event in Fremont and a VFW dinner in northwest Omaha.
On Sunday, Lutheran Family Services announced it was closing its Rupert Dunklau Center for Healthy Families in Fremont through March 15 "out of an abundance of caution to keep our clients and staff healthy and safe."
Across the U.S., about 500 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, with 22 deaths. More than 109,400 people worldwide have tested positive for the virus, and more than 3,800 who contracted it have died.