April photos: Nebraska faces coronavirus
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Hank, a Labrador retriever, does not respect social distancing and gives Morgan Henderson, the owner of Dirty Doodles, a kiss while being groomed at Dirty Doodles in Omaha. The dog grooming service has moved work stations outside so employees can remain six feet apart during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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A message written in chalk on a wall along Martha Street in Omaha on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.
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Traffic is sparse at time on Interstate 80 through Omaha as people are encouraged to stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Handwritten notes for customers at Nite Owl in Omaha on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. Nite Owl has been writing personal notes to customers and offering specials, like the Social Distance Daiquiri, while offering curbside take-out as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues.
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Karna Gurung answers a text on his phone at his store located at 822 N 40th Street on Thursday, April 02, 2020. Gurung is translating important information about coronavirus for non english speaking members of his community.
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Rita Otis leads an outdoor Tai Chi class on a grass island at Glenwood Road and Sunset Trail on Wednesday, April 01, 2020. Participants had to maintain a distance of six feet due to coronavirus social distancing measures.
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Rita Otis leads an outdoor Tai Chi class on a grass island at Glenwood Road and Sunset Trail on Wednesday, April 01, 2020. Participants had to maintain a distance of six feet due to coronavirus social distancing measures.
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The Easter Bunny waves to families as they drive by at the Hy-Vee near 144th and Stony Brook Blvd. in Omaha on Saturday, April 4, 2020. The grocery store usually hosts an Easter egg hunt, but went with a drive-thru Easter Bunny visit this year to encourage social distancing in response to the novel coronavirus.
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A sign is installed at Zorinsky Lake Park in Omaha on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Playgrounds and athletic fields are closed in all Omaha parks.
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A ball field is seen through a chainlink fence, at Lee Valley Park in Omaha on Saturday, April 4, 2020. Playgrounds and athletic fields are closed in all Omaha parks.
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A ball field sets empty at Prairie Lane Park in Omaha on Saturday, April 04, 2020. Playgrounds and athletic fields are closed in all Omaha parks.
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A Washington Elementary School sign reads 'Nebraska Strong' on Thursday, April 02, 2020, in Fremont, Nebraska.
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About 100 people line up outside Brickway Brewery & Distillery in Omaha on Monday, April 6, 2020. The Old Market business was giving away free hand sanitizer on tap to anyone who brings their own bottle of 64 ounces or less.
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Don Rupp wears a face mask made by his wife while waiting in line outside Brickway Brewery & Distillery in Omaha on Monday, April 6, 2020. The Old Market business was giving away free hand sanitizer on tap to anyone who brings their own bottle of 64 ounces or less.
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Streets in downtown Grand Island are mostly empty. In Hall County, 35.5% of tests for the coronavirus have come back positive, compared to the 7.65% positive rate statewide.
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Playground equipment is seen wrapped in caution tape at Pier Park on April 6 in Grand Island. Playgrounds are closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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Russell Hatt smokes a cigarette outside of Fonner Park on April 6 in Grand Island. "I'm a widower, so this is what I do to stay busy. I bet on horses and play Texas Hold 'Em."
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The Kroc Center is illuminated as a symbol of hope in Omaha on Monday, April 6, 2020.
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Rabbi Daniel Blotner puts together Seder-To-Go kits at Chabad House in Omaha on Monday, April 6, 2020. The Seder is a ritual dinner to mark the beginning of Passover, which began on April 8. The free kits and were available for delivery for anyone who is homebound during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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Leah Hanson and others visit their grandmother from outside the Douglas County Health Center in Omaha on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
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From left, Carol Ann Hixson, Terri Rohmeyer and Carol Carol Coffey wave and blow kisses to a family member from outside the Douglas County Health Center in Omaha on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
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A woman walks a dog as the sun sets on Elmwood Park in Omaha on Wednesday, April 08, 2020. Omaha has closed all city parks until April 30 to combat COVID-19. The trail system will remain open, but parking lots at trail heads are closed. People must walk or bike in.
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A couple walks along the West Papio Trail in Omaha on Wednesday, April 08, 2020. Omaha has closed all city parks until April 30 to combat COVID-19. The trail system will remain open, but parking lots at trail heads are closed. People must walk or bike in.
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Kennedy Cascio has decorated her home's front door with a symbol for medicine and hearts. Cascio is an intensive care unit nurse at the Bellevue Medical Center and created the display to "show that I am thankful for everyone working on the frontlines," as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues. Photographed in Omaha on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.
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A message is left along a fence at Lewis and Calrk Middle School in Omaha on Thursday, April 09, 2020. Omaha Public Schools have been closed since mid-March, with remote learning for all students, as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues.
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Traffic signs on Dodge Street, near 168th, display self quarantine guideline suggestions on Monday, April 06, 2020.
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A sparrow sit in its nest in the letter "g" in Walgreens sign at 5038 Center Street on Friday, April 10, 2020.
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An image of Jesus is reflected in a puddle during an Easter service at King of Kings Church on Sunday in Omaha. The church installed a large screen in the parking lot to enable drive-up and park services.
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A home displays a message in a front window in Omaha on Friday, April 10.
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A message of good health hangs from a home's front porch in Omaha on Thursday, April 16, 2020.
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A window message shows form a home in Omaha on Thursday, April 16, 2020.
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Astrid Mitchell, right, and her mother, Katie Mitchell, observe the drive-thru stations Good Friday event at the Prairie Creek Inn Bed & Breakfast on Friday in Walton, Nebraska.
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Snow falls at a drive-up mobile food pantry run by the Food Bank off the Heartland and Millard Public Schools in Millard on Thursday. The mobile pantry more than doubled the number of packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, potatoes and pantry staples they normally give out each month in anticipation of increased need due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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Snow falls at a drive-up mobile food pantry run by the Food Bank off the Heartland and Millard Public Schools in Millard on Thursday. The mobile pantry more than doubled the number of packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, potatoes and pantry staples they normally give out each month in anticipation of increased need due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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Terri Connell loads a vehicle at a drive-up mobile food pantry run by the Food Bank off the Heartland and Millard Public Schools as snow falls in Millard on Thursday. The mobile pantry more than doubled the number of packages of fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, potatoes and pantry staples they normally give out each month in anticipation of increased need due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
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"Nebraska Strong" is written in chalk on a home's fence in Grand Island on Friday.
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A message is written on a home's window on Friday in Grand Island.
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A quarantine snowman wears a cloth mask and holds a toilet paper on Friday in Grand Island.
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Fireworks erupt during a drive-in fireworks show at Werner Park on Saturday, April 18. The park would have hosted a minor league baseball game that day, but the start of the season has been postponed because of the coronavirus. Thousands watched the fireworks from the stadium's parking lots and surrounding areas.
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People watch fireworks during a drive-in fireworks show at Werner Park on Saturday, April 18. The park would have hosted a minor league baseball game that day, but the start of the season has been postponed because of the coronavirus. Thousands watched the fireworks from the stadium's parking lots and surrounding areas.
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Handmade signs to support essential workers during the novel coronavirus pandemic outside a home in Omaha on Wednesday, April 22, 2020.
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A chalk rainbow hot air ballon rises up a home's front porch steps in Omaha on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.
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A woman takes a photo of the bright but empty stadium at Papillion-La Vista South. Schools across Nebraska held similar celebrations for senior classes.
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Ella Pelletier and Matt Jones, both Papillion-La Vista South seniors, watch as the school’s stadium is lit up as part of the “Be the Light” campaign on Wednesday.
Farm woes
Jim Bartling in one of his family’s hog barns in Unadilla, Nebraska, on Wednesday. “The problem with being a hog farmer is that I just can’t shut the door and lock it like store owners,” Bartling said. “This is a wound and there is no way to stop the bleeding.”
Farm woes
Jim Bartling walks back toward his home after making rounds on his hog farm Wednesday in Unadilla, Nebraska. "I saw this coming all the way back when it was in Wuhan. If what was happening was enough to make them shut down so much, I knew it was coming our way," he said.
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Jim Bartling in the farrowing facility on the Bartling Brothers’ farm. “It is only going to get worse if things keep going the way they are going,” he said.
"Herd immunity means 60 to 80% of people get infected," said Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health. "Herd immunity would have been devastation in terms of ... cases and deaths."
By late March, about 100 patients, all with more serious cases of COVID-19 affecting the lungs, had been enrolled nationwide in the NIH-sponsored trial.
The helpers are emerging, as they do in Nebraska. The World-Herald shines a light on The Helpers as beacons of hope through the pandemic.
Coronavirus cases are spiking in Hall, Adams, Dawson and Dakota Counties, areas with large meat processing or manufacturing employers like Tyson Foods and JBS USA.
The Grand Island area — by far Nebraska’s biggest coronavirus hot spot — now has rates of illness comparable to some of the hardest-hit states in the country.
The fast-rising figures in Hall and Dawson Counties have quickly and dramatically altered the face of the coronavirus pandemic in Nebraska. The state has seen a 155% spike in cases in the last 10 days — the third-highest growth in the U.S.
Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday that his goal is aimed at "flattening the curve" of coronavirus cases, thereby preventing the state's health care system from being overwhelmed, rather than minimizing the number of people who die or get seriously ill.
The Omaha and Lincoln metro areas, as well as many rural parts of the state, all show COVID-19 rates well below national and state averages.
Just since April 8, Dawson County cases have grown from one to 197. Lexington, population 10,000, is home to a Tyson Foods beef plant that employs nearly 3,000 people.
