LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts says Nebraska is “well ahead of the curve” in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump says Nebraska is one of the states that’s been “very lightly affected” by the outbreak that’s crippling the economy.But others who have tried to plot out the future course of the virus are urging patience and are waiting for more tests and more data. There’s plenty of reason for concern — the Legislative Research Office, as well as a Lincoln doctor, have produced projections that, among other things, raise questions about the state’s capacity to handle a surge of cases.

If half or more of Nebraskans contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and if 5% to 10% of the sick require hospitalization — as some health organizations have projected — perhaps 100,000 hospital beds will be needed in Nebraska, a state with about 7,000 such beds.

“I think we’ve been more lightly affected, but the real answer is we don’t know yet because we haven’t done enough testing,” said Dr. Bob Rauner of Lincoln, the chief medical director for a network of 58 independent medical clinics in Nebraska.