Nebraska's COVID Cases Are Down, but Experts Expect a Post-Thanksgiving Surge

Nov. 30, 2020, 4:25 p.m. ·

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(Data: DHHS. Graphic: Joe McMullen)

New cases of COVID-19 in the state are down 30% over the past two weeks, but experts say the decrease may be short-lived.

"I don't think we're out of the woods by a long shot, and we need to be really, really careful here the next month or two," said Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Rupp says even a temporary decline is hopeful, but he's concerned about the two to three weeks after Thanksgiving. He says anyone who got together with people outside their household over the holiday should be extra careful.

"Essentially, try to quarantine themselves as much as they possibly can, thinking that they may have possibly been exposed," Rupp said. "And by doing that, hopefully we can keep the surge in cases that we all expect to see to a minimum."

Rupp says a statewide mask mandate should be implemented. But even without a mandate, he encourages Nebraskans to wear a mask and to follow other virus precautions.

"I know people are getting tired of this and they've been doing it since the spring, but we need to just buy a few more months of time so we can start to get the vaccine out into the community and really start to blunt the transmission of this pandemic," he said.

In the last seven days, 89 Nebraskans have died of COVID-19 state officials confirmed more than 12,000 new cases.