Omaha Restrictions Loosen Today; Lincoln Waiting a Week

Published by Scott Stewart on Mon, 05/04/2020 - 7:20am

Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Les Zimmerman hands a package of surgical masks to a truck driver on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, at the westbound Interstate 80 weigh station in Waverly. The masks were provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nebraska is one of eight states working with federal agencies as part of this program. (Francis Gardler/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

Grant Schulte

The Associated Press

Lincoln – Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced plans last week to ease coronavirus restrictions in Lincoln and other parts of the state, including some of the least-populated counties, even though the number of confirmed cases has surged.

Ricketts said he will extend the state’s current public health restrictions in the Lincoln area through May 10, and he will then relax them May 11 to match the less stringent rules that were set to go into effect in Omaha today. The Lincoln-area restrictions were originally set to expire on May 6.

Ricketts, a Republican, said the decision to extend the restrictions before relaxing them was based in part on conversations with Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, a Democrat, and the county’s public health director. “It was a collaborative process,” Ricketts said at a news conference.

Public health officials in Lincoln said they believe they have enough capacity to handle a surge in new cases and hospitalizations.

But Gaylor Baird said that she reserves the right to reinstate the tougher restrictions if conditions in the city worsen. She said she and Ricketts agreed to wait until May 11 out of concern about Crete, a meatpacking town about 25 miles from Lincoln that has seen a spike in cases.

“We are fully cognizant of the difficult balance between protecting public health and our economic vitality,” Gaylor Baird said.

Current statewide restrictions prohibit restaurants from offering dine-in services and have forced the closure of salons and tattoo parlors. They also limited day care centers to allow no more than 10 children in one room.

The new, less restrictive rules will allow salons, tattoo parlors and restaurant dining rooms to reopen with limits. Restaurant employees must wear masks, and dining groups will have to be seated at least 6 feet apart. Day cares will be allowed to have up to 15 children per room.

Ricketts announce that the first wave of lighter restrictions will go into effect May 4 in 59 of Nebraska’s 93 counties, including Douglas County. The second wave will include 10 more, including the counties that encompass Lincoln, Fremont, North Platte, Blair and Wahoo. It also will ease restrictions in some of the most sparsely populated counties, including Arthur, McPherson, Thomas and Hooker – each with less than 750 people.