Nebraska governor extends order; new COVID-19 cases reported
A nurse in protective gear tests for the COVID-19 and coronavirus virus at a drive-through test location at Bryant Health's LifePointe campus in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Testing was by appointment only. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts speaks at a press briefing in Lincoln, Neb., Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Nebraska approved an $83.6 million emergency relief package Wednesday to help public health officials respond to new coronavirus as the number of cases continued to rise and Gov. Pete Ricketts expanded the list of counties where restaurants and bars will be forced to close their dining areas. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts on Saturday extended his enforceable order limiting gatherings to 10 people to seven more counties in Nebraska, as 10 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Omaha area.
Ricketts’ order now includes Butler, Hall, Hamilton, Merrick, Polk, Seward, and York counties and effectively shuts down the dining rooms of restaurants and bars and shutters theaters, churches, schools and gyms. It also limits social gatherings such as weddings and funerals to 10 people.
The area covered under the new extension covers some 123,000 people — including those in Grand Island, Central City and York — in a block spanning central and southeastern Nebraska.
Ricketts earlier this month issued the order for Douglas, Sarpy, Cass and Washington counties, then Lancaster, Dodge and Saunders counties. Combined, all of those counties account for more than 1.25 million people and well over half of the state's population.
The order Saturday came a day after state health officials announced the state's first two deaths from the COVID-19 virus — one of them in Hall County.
The Douglas County Health Department reported Saturday that 10 new cases had been confirmed on heels of increased testing, bringing the state's total to at least 99. These latest cases involve two women and a man in their 30s, two women and two men in their 40s, two women in their 50s and a woman in her 70s, the department said.
Four of the cases had direct contact with previously known COVID-19 cases, two are related to travel and the Health Department’s Epidemiology Team continues to investigate the other cases. None of the people among the newly confirmed cases is hospitalized, the department said.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
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