The coronavirus began impacting the other side of the world in late 2019, but University of Nebraska-Lincoln administrators diligently planned as the virus spread. âThis is a room where â as we saw the threat growing and as we saw it coming closer and as we realized things were going to have to change â where those early discussions took place,â Fiddelke said. âThen after a while, we werenât in this room anymore.â A looming threat The ânovel coronavirusâ â not yet officially named âCOVID-19â until Feb. 11, 2020 â caused outbreaks quickly around the world, reaching the United States in January. Green said he got his first epidemiological report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Feb. 26 about what the virus could look like based on various spread rates. In the next two weeks, there was a growing fear with more evidence of a threat against the university, according to Greenâs âMeditations and Musingsâ blog about that day.