When it comes to COVID-19, Dr. Ali Khan, Dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said there is a great misunderstanding of the pandemic. "I would say that we have relatively uncontrolled transmission here in the state of Nebraska," Khan said. Khan noted, while new cases are dropping in Nebraska, the number is still high and it could increase again. He also pointed to national numbers, and said though the U.S. has seen daily cases drop from the peak, there's now a plateau."We have been stuck for the last four to six weeks at 20,000 cases every day here in the United States," Khan said. As for communities opening back up, Khan said the question isn't so much whether they should or should not. He said it's about re-opening safely. "That's the dichotomy. Do you open safely or do you not open safely? And if you're having lots of cases in the community, you're opening unsafely," Khan said. Khan said part of the responsibility falls on government officials to take steps to reduce cases."We need to test and trace. We need to find every case in our community, isolate them. Rapidly identify their contacts and put them in quarantine," Khan said. The other component according to Khan: personal responsibility."Masks work. It's unequivocal. It's like a seat belt. Masks work. Please wear a mask when you're out and about in the community," he said. UNMC's chancellor is warning the fight against COVID-19 is far from over. During an online forum on COVID-19 and the year ahead, Dr. Jeffrey Gold took questions on a possible second wave. "Right now it is almost pointless to talk about a second or third wave because...we're nowhere near through the first wave of this. Tragically, I can't tell you whether we're in the ninth inning, the fifth inning or the second inning," Gold said. Gold did give some insight into his own decisions. He said he plans to get his teeth cleaned in the near future and he hopes to visit his grandchildren in July. However, he too urges people to wear masks, practice social distancing in public and avoid large gatherings. Some promising news Tuesday: Khan said a new study indicates a common steroid drug, dexamethasone is effective in treating COVID-19 patients."This actually will decrease your chance of dying, so this is amazing," he said.