Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Panhandle: Info and Resources

Trusted information about coronavirus:

U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) coronavirus page

CDC coronavirus fact sheets

Panhandle Public Health District

University of Nebraska-Lincoln information page on Coronavirus

Nebraska Extension: Food Safety and COVID-19 Resources

Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center guidelines

Updated: March 16, 2021:

The Panhandle Center and Scotts Bluff Count Extension Office, both located at 4502 Avenue I, Scottsbluff, are following guidelines from Nebraska Extension and the Panhandle Public Health District in conducting public business and face-to-face events. For more information and the latest procedures, call the Panhandle Center main number, 308-632-1230, or the Scotts Bluff County Extension main number, 308-632-1480.

Extension is still available to Nebraskans

The entire Nebraska Extension network of professionals is available, even while changes are made in office operations.

Nebraska Extension’s operations: See Nebraska Extension’s main website, https://extension.unl.edu

Extension Resources on the web:

Cropwatch.unl.edu: CropWatch is a central resource for University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension information on crop production and pest management. Information is organized into two key areas. The CropWatch newsletter includes timely articles published to the site's home page. New issues are published weekly during the heart of the crop production season and generally biweekly during the remainder of the year. The website also includes Crop-specific production and pest management sections.

Beef.unl.edu: Extension’s beef website focuses on providing research-based information and resources to beef producers to help them provide an economical, safe, quality product to consumers while protecting and preserving Nebraska's natural resources. The site is organized to allow producers to find information specific to an area of interest. A faculty and staff expertise directory is provided.

Guidance on the prevention and spread of COVID-19 for farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers. From the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at UNL.

Food.unl.edu: The Food website houses information on food, fitness and recipes, educational resources, food safety and preservation, local foods, and youth/4-H as well as links to the Nutrition Education Program, Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, Meat Products, and the Food Processing Center.

Water.unl.edu: This website from the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources has sections on groundwater, surface water, ag production, residential water use, and UNL units that work on water issues.

Helping your children learn at home:

Nebraska Extension has several remote access programs for children:

For 3rd-5th graders: Living Room Learning (https://4h.unl.edu/living-room-learning ): Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. Mountain Time for Nebraska 4-H's Living Room Learning. Youth will participate in a hands-on virtually guided activity where they will learn about healthy living, science, technology, and more. Each session will focus on a new activity that can be done with materials found at home. Living Room Learning activities are perfect for youth in 3rd-5th grades. Each session will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing. Youth do not need to be 4-H members to participate.

For 6th-9th graders, Boredom Buster Challenge (https://4h.unl.edu/boredom-buster-challenge): Tune in every Monday and Wednesday afternoon at 1 p.m. Mountain Time. Each week, youth will be given a problem to solve using materials found in their home. On Monday, the challenge is introduced and on Wednesday exciting twists and turns are introduced. Through these hands-on virtually guided challenges youth will learn about entrepreneurship, healthy living, science, technology, and more. Each session will be recorded and made available for on-demand viewing. Youth do not need to be 4-H members to participate. 

For younger children, Beautiful Day ( https://cehs.unl.edu/abeautifulday/) : The UNL College of Education and Human Sciences, in partnership with the Nebraska Extension Learning Child team, created this website for more resources, featuring Early Childhood team and their family members.