UNMC Expert: Some Social Distancing Can Be Relaxed After Peak

Governor Ricketts has declared an initiative for Nebraskans to “stay home and stay safe” until the end of April. The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to peak around that time. What will happen after the peak?

Dr. Mark Rupp is a professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He says life will be somewhat unusual for some time.

"I agree that most of the models look like they’ll be peaking in Nebraska sometime toward the end of April or maybe even the first week of May," Rupp said. "But after that, we’re going to continue to see cases of COVID-19. It isn’t miraculously just going to disappear until we have widespread immunity within the population either because of infection or because we develop a vaccine."

Rupp says in the period between the peak of the pandemic and the development of a vaccine, some social distancing measures can be relaxed. However, communities will still have to be careful.

Public health officials will be on the lookout for cases and small outbreaks, and Rupp hopes they will be more prepared with the capability to test new cases quickly and test a person’s close contacts.

That period of time will also mark a return to the in depth contact investigations of COVID-19 cases, and contacts will be asked to quarantine.

Rupp believes with those measures, society can return to a new normal, but when it takes place will depend on the case curve.

The timeline could also vary in different areas, but Rupp doesn’t think communities need to wait for zero cases of COVID-19, but could instead look for a downward trend in cases before they start to relax restrictions.