Though some members of the medical community have voiced objections, on Monday Gov. Pete Ricketts relaxed the directed health measures for all but four Nebraska counties.
Under the rules which take affect on Monday, Nebraska bars, restaurants and other venues will be permitted to allow more people inside.
The rules provide restaurants and bars will be allowed to operate at full capacity as long as they follow the social distancing rules and additional hygiene practices. Gatherings of up to 10,000 people will be allowed provided the indoor venues they are held in do not exceed 50 percent of rated capacity.
While the relaxed rules may result in more people contracting COVID-19, Ricketts said, “We’ve got the robust hospital capacity in the state today to be able to take care of people. And that’s what we focus on.”
Starting Monday, hair salons will be allowed to operate at 75 percent of capacity although masks will be required at most of those businesses. Childcare facilities will be allowed to increase the number of youngsters per room and remaining restrictions on elective surgeries will be lifted.
But the relaxed state rules will continue to prohibit most parades, carnivals and street dances.
It is thought the schools will be allowed to open in the fall with students in the classrooms though the details of the school plans are still being written.
Nursing homes will be allowed to open their doors to visitors after first conducting baseline testing of all staff members. A positive test could result in restrictions being reinstated.
As of Monday evening, the state had reported 16,851 positive cases and 220 deaths. Statewide 43 percent of hospital beds were available for patients with 53 percent of the ICU beds open and 76 percent of the state’s ventilators available.
“We probably have the fewest hospitalizations now since the first week in May,” Ricketts said.
While Nebraska is relaxing, the number of new coronavirus cases have been rising in many states.
The number of new infections reported by the State of Nebraska peaked on May 7 at 677. The Omaha World-Herald reported on Tuesday, “The state has averaged 156 cases a day over the past seven days.”
Ricketts said, “It’s a nice bell curve. “We’re on the downhill slide.”
The restrictive guidelines were first imposed in March.
In a guest opinion published Monday in the World-Herald, medical doctors cautioned, “We continue to teeter on the precipice of disaster” and urged people to wear masks.
Some states, such as Georgia, which reopened businesses early and adopted more relaxed social distancing measures, have seen case counts rise, the doctors wrote. If efforts are relaxed now, Nebraska could see a “recurring epidemic in the next six to eight weeks.”
“Our strategy to avoid this is two-fold: We must increase testing and case tracking and improve compliance with hygiene and social distancing measures,” the doctors wrote.
The relaxed rules will allow contact sports to begin practices and games after July 1. More fans will be allowed to attend events starting Monday. Limited dancing and other social activities will be allowed at wedding reception venues. Wedding and funerals will be able to operate at 100 percent of the venue’s capacity because it is generally known who attends and they can be tracked if an infected person attends.
The Omaha Public Schools board has approved the purchase of more than 360,000 cloth masks for students and staff. The masks are part of the district’s plan to return students to the classroom in the fall.
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