Governor's order shuts down businesses in eastern Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts on Thursday issued an enforceable measure that effectively shuts down restaurants, bars, theaters, churches, gyms and social gatherings of more than 10 people in four eastern Nebraska counties, as state officials scramble to stymie the spread of the new coronavirus.

The direct health measure came a day after the Douglas County Public Health Department confirmed its second case of COVID-19 from “community spread," in which officials can't trace how or where a person got infected. Ricketts' measure, in effect through April 30, requires restaurants and bars in Cass, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties to close down dining areas immediately and move to take-out, delivery or curbside service. Weddings and funerals, concerts and athletic events are also subject to the 10-person limit.

Ricketts had called for the limit statewide on Monday. His measure issued Thursday allows police and sheriff's deputies to enforce the limit in those counties.

A long list of businesses and services are exempt from the measure, including office buildings, grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, jails and prisons, courthouses, banks and stores.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

According to the World Health Organization, people with mild case recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe cases may take three to six weeks to get better.

In another effort to slow the spread of the virus, officials announced Thursday that all jury trials in Douglas County through May 1 have been postponed.

On Wednesday, a health department in south-central Nebraska reported that region's first case of the coronavirus, and the last of a group of Americans who were exposed to it on a Japanese cruise ship was released from quarantine in Omaha.

A woman in her 40s from Adams County tested positive for COVID-19, South Heartland District Health Department in Hastings said in a news release Wednesday night. The release said the woman had recently traveled to Europe and is self-quarantining in her home.

The department is working to identify the woman's close contacts, who will be notified and asked to self-isolate while local health officials monitor them for symptoms twice daily, health officials said.

That brings the number of cases in the state to 29. All but four of those cases were found in the four eastern Nebraska counties subject to the governor's measure.

On Wednesday, the last Diamond Princess passenger went home, Nebraska Medicine spokesman Taylor Wilson said. The passenger was among the 15 who were part of a larger group of American citizens who'd been aboard the Diamond Princess and flown back to the U.S. in February.

The first four were released earlier this month and the rest as they tested negative three times for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

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