NE Health Dept. seeks travelers to prevent coronavirus spread

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — If you've traveled to specific countries in the past 14 days, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) would like you to contact them amid coronavirus concerns.

“Ensuring the health of Nebraskans is our main priority and public health officials continue to actively monitor self-isolated Nebraska residents who recently returned from China,” said Dr. Tom Safranek, State Epidemiologist for DHHS. “Based on the spread of COVID-19 and an increase in cases in other countries, DHHS is now including Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, along with China. We’re asking people with travel to these countries in the last 14 days to either self-report to the Nebraska public health online system at http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx[icm-tracking.meltwater.com] or contact their local health department for guidance and next steps. Informing the local health department of recent travel history is the most direct way to ensure timely medical care if needed and to minimize the potential risk to others.”

The DHHS says officials are taking the following steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus:

• Sharing the latest guidance and information with local health departments, hospitals, health care providers, first responders and local and state labs through our extensive Health Alert Network to ensure a well-coordinated response in Nebraska. DHHS Health Alert Network - http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Health-Alert-Network.aspx [icm-tracking.meltwater.com][icm-tracking.meltwater.com]
• Assessing our health care system’s readiness to identify, monitor and treat patients with coronavirus disease 2019.
• Engaging in active and ongoing communication with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other state and federal partners as part of the overall national response to this emerging public health threat.
• Reviewing and enhancing response plans to be ready for the detection of COVID-19 in our state.
• Facilitating confirmatory testing, isolation and monitoring of Nebraskans experiencing symptoms to identify cases as soon as possible.
• Updating dhhs.ne.gov/coronavirus with the latest information and resources.
• With our local health department partners, we have a system in place to track and monitor people who have contact with a confirmed case in an effort to immediately detect secondary cases and minimize the potential for ongoing, undetected, person-to-person transmission.

DHHS says you can help prevent the spread of respiratory infections by:

• Washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based sanitizer.
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoiding close contact with sick people and stay home if you are sick.
• Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

If you're not sure which agency to contact, you can find out by referencing this map provided by the Health Department.

County Health Departments:

Clay County Health Department202 West Fairfield

Clay Center

Phone: (402) 762-3571

Website: www.claycounty.ne.gov [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Clay County/Clay Center)

Dakota County Health Department

1601 Broadway Street/Box 155

Dakota City

Phone: (402) 987-2164

Website: www.dakotacountyne.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Dakota County/Dakota City)

Douglas County Health DepartmentCommunicable Disease Epidemiology Section

1111 South 41^st Street

Omaha

Phone: (402) 444-7214

Website: www.douglascountyhealth.com [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Douglas County/Omaha)

Polk County Health Department330 North State Street/Box 316

Osceola

Phone: (402) 747-2211

Website: https://polkcounty.nebraska.gov/county [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]- [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]offices/health [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]- [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]department [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Polk County/Osceola)

Red Willow County Health Department1400 West 5^th

McCook

Phone: (308) 345-1790

Website: http://redwillowhealth.com [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Red Willow County/McCook)

Scotts Bluff County Health Department1825 10^th Street

Gering

Phone: (308) 436-6636

Website: www.scottsbluffcounty.org/health [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]- [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]department/health [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]- [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]department.html [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Scotts Bluff County/Gering)

CITY-COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department3131 “O” Street

Lincoln

Phone: (402) 441-8000

Website: www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/health [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Lancaster County/Lincoln)

DISTRICT HEALTH DEPARTMENTS

Central District Health Department1137 South Locust Street

Grand Island

Phone: (308) 385-5175 x178; Toll Free: (877) 216-9092

Website: www.cdhd.ne.gov [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Hall County/Grand Island, Hamilton County/Aurora, Merrick County/Central City)

East Central District Health Department

4321 41^st Avenue

Columbus

Phone: (402) 562-8950

Email: bwewel@ecdhd.ne.gov

Website: http://ecdhd.ne.gov [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Boone County/Albion, Colfax County/Schuyler, Nance County/Fullerton, Platte

County/Columbus)

Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health DepartmentBox 779

Wisner

Phone: (402) 529-2233; Toll-Free: (877) 379-4400

Website: www.elvphd.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Burt County/Tekamah, Cuming County/West Point, Madison County/Madison, Stanton County/Stanton)

Four Corners Health Department2101 North Lincoln Avenue

York

Phone: (402) 362-2621; Toll-Free: (877) 337-3573

Website: www.fourcorners.ne.gov [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Butler County/David City, Polk County/Osceola, Seward County/Seward, York County/York)

Loup Basin Public Health Department934 “I” Street/Box 995

Burwell

Phone: (308) 346-5795; Toll-Free: (866) 522-5795

Website: www.loupbasinhealth.com [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Blaine County/Brewster, Custer County/Broken Bow, Garfield County/Burwell, Greeley

County/Greeley, Howard County/St Paul, Loup County/Taylor, Sherman County/Loup City, Valley County/Ord, Wheeler County/Bartlett)

North Central District Health Department422 East Douglas Street

O’Neill

Phone: (402) 336-2406; Toll Free: (877) 336-2406

Website: www.ncdhd.ne.gov [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Antelope County/Neligh, Boyd County/Butte, Brown County/Ainsworth, Cherry

County/Valentine, Holt County/O'Neill, Keya Paha County/Springview, Knox County/Center, Pierce County/Pierce, Rock County/Bassett)

Northeast Nebraska Public Health Department215 North Pearl Street

Wayne

Phone: (402) 375-2200; 24/7 Phone: (402) 369-3822

Website: www.nnphd.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Cedar County/Hartington, Dixon County/Ponca, Thurston County/Pender, Wayne County/Wayne)

Panhandle Public Health District 808 Box Butte Avenue

Hemingford

Phone: (308) 487-3600

Website: www.pphd.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Banner County/Harrisburg, Box Butte County/Alliance, Cheyenne County/Sidney, Dawes

County/Chadron, Deuel County/Chappell, Garden County/Oshkosh, Grant County/Hyannis,

Kimball County/Kimball, Morrill County/Bridgeport, Scotts Bluff County/Gering, Sheridan County/Rushville, Sioux County/Harrison)

Public Health Solutions District Health Department

995 East Highway 33/Suite 1

Crete

Phone: (402) 826-3880

Website: http://phsneb.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Fillmore County/Geneva, Gage County/Beatrice, Jefferson County/Fairbury, Saline

County/Wilber, Thayer County/Hebron)

Sarpy/Cass Health Department701 Olson Drive/Suite 101

Papillion

Phone: (402) 339-4334 x6978; Toll Free: (800) 645-0134

Website: www.sarpycasshealthdepartment.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Cass County/Plattsmouth, Sarpy County/Papillion)

South Heartland District Health Department606 North Minnesota/Suite 2

Hastings

Phone: (402) 462-6211; Toll Free: (877) 238-7595

Website: southheartlandhealth.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Adams County/Hastings, Clay County/Clay Center, Nuckolls County/Nelson, Webster County/Red Cloud)

Southeast District Health Department2511 Schneider Avenue

Auburn

Phone: (402) 274-3993; Toll Free: (877) 777-0424

Website: www.sedhd.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Johnson County/Tecumseh, Nemaha County/Auburn, Otoe County/Nebraska City, Pawnee

County/Pawnee City, Richardson County/Falls City)

Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department404 West 10^th Street

McCook

Phone: (308) 345-4223

Website: www.swhealth.ne.gov [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Chase County/Imperial, Dundy County/Benkelman, Frontier County/Stockville, Furnas

County/Beaver City, Hayes County/Hayes Center, Hitchcock County/Trenton, Keith County/ Ogallala, Perkins County/Grant, Red Willow/McCook)

Three Rivers Public Health Department2400 North Lincoln Street

Fremont

Phone: (402) 727-5396; Toll Free: (866) 727-5396

Website: https://threeriverspublichealth.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Dodge County/Fremont, Saunders County/Wahoo, Washington County/Blair)

Two Rivers Public Health Department701 4^th Avenue/Suite 1

Holdrege

Phone: (308) 995-4778; Toll Free: (888) 669-7154

Website: http://trphd.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Buffalo County/Kearney, Dawson County/Lexington, Franklin County/Franklin, Gosper

County/Elwood, Harlan County/Alma, Kearney County/Minden, Phelps County/Holdrege)

West Central District Health Department111 N Dewey/Suite A

North Platte

Phone: (308) 696-1201

Website: http://wcdhd.org [icm-tracking.meltwater.com]

(Arthur County/Arthur, Hooker County/Mullen, Lincoln County/North Platte, Logan County/Stapleton, McPherson County/Tryon, Thomas County/Thedford)