Coronavirus puts Nebraska back in the spotlight again

Nebraska is back in the spotlight as the world tries to react and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, well on its way to becoming a pandemic in the United States.

That’s because 14 people evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan are in isolation in a special unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and 12 of them have tested positive for the corona virus.

The status makes Omaha ground zero for a study, overseen by Dr. Andre Kalil, to see if the antiviral medicine remdesivir, will be effective against the new threat.

There is no cure or treatment for the disease, other than treating the symptoms with fluids and pain relievers, or ventilators or other devices in life-threatening cases.

So far, 80,000 people have been infected, the vast majority Chinese, and more than 2,700 killed.

That’s about a 3 percent fatality rate, with about 15% experiencing moderate symptoms and 80% or more with minor symptoms.

Ironically, the virus may prove to be more dangerous because it so many people feel no symptoms, spreading it more easily.

By comparison, the common seasonal flu has killed as many as 61,000 people each year since 2010, and made as many as 45 million people sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Unlike the seasonal flu, there’s no debate about the effectiveness of vaccinations for COVID-19, since no vaccine exists.

That’s what the NebraskaMed study and others are trying to create. Half the patients in the international study will receive remdesivir, while the other half will receive a placebo. The same drug, and others are being studied in several other countries.

"The goal here is to help the people that need it the most," Kalil told The Associated Press.

The special medical isolation unit is only one example of the leading-edge, medical, scientific and technological advancements of which the state’s best minds are capable. We must continue to do all we can to encourage and cultivate their efforts.