Condition of 2 patients with COVID-19 in Nebraska improving

The condition of two of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Omaha after being evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan has improved significantly, officials said Wednesday.

Two of the 15 people being monitored at the University of Nebraska Medical Center were being cared for at the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit because of the severity of their symptoms. Health officials said Wednesday, those two people improved enough to be transferred to the National Quarantine Unit where the other 13 people are being treated.

Two of the 15 have tested negative for the virus and could be released from quarantine March 2. The people who tested positive for COVID-19 will have to test negative for it twice before they can be released.