Nebraska nurse dies of COVID-19 as cases surge

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska hospital is mourning the death of a nurse who died of the coronavirus as cases surge across the state.

The nurse, who worked on a surgical unit at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, died Wednesday, according to a letter by Ann Schumacher, president of CHI Health. The letter didn’t provide the nurse’s full name, identifying her only as Daphne. It described her as “smart, kind and compassionate,” the Lincoln Journal-Star reports.

“Our calling to care for each other as one of our own was so clearly demonstrated by her care team,” Schumacher wrote. “She was surrounded by love as she left this earth.”

More than 1,000 U.S. health care workers are believed to have died from COVID-19, according to a tracking project by Kaiser Health News and The Guardian.

Meanwhile, seven staff members with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services are positive for the coronavirus and isolating at home. The agency said in a news release that four work at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, two at the Omaha Correctional Center and one at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.