Special Olympics Nebraska has canceled several upcoming events and is asking groups to suspend practices and other gatherings after people who attended a basketball event in Fremont last month may have been exposed to coronavirus.
State health officials on Saturday asked players, coaches and team staff members who participated in the Special Olympics basketball event at the Fremont Family YMCA on Feb. 29 to self-quarantine because of the possibility of exposure.
A 36-year-old woman who is being treated for COVID-19 in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center played in the event, which included about 500 people, some from Lincoln, according to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.
Spectators of the Special Olympics event and other people who were in the Fremont YMCA that day are at a much lower risk of contracting the virus than the participants, officials said, but should monitor for symptoms, including a fever of greater than 100.4 degrees, cough and shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.
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On its website, Special Olympics Nebraska said the following events have been canceled:Â
* University of Nebraska-Lincoln Track and Field clinic on March 8.
* UNL Unified Recreational Basketball game on March 10 and 17.
* Q Street Classic basketball game on March 13.
* Level A Swimming on March 14.
* East Region Aquatics on March 21.
* East Central Region Aquatics on March 21.
The organization is also recommending that all delegations in the East and East Central regions suspend practices, competitions and other gatherings until further notice.
Lancaster County and all surrounding counties are included in those regions.