Ricketts Ends Social Distancing Restrictions

(KFOR NEWS September 11, 2020) Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is ending nearly all state’s social-distancing restrictions…even as the number of new coronavirus cases has trended upward over the last few months.

The new rules will still limit the size of indoor gatherings but will drop all other state-imposed mandates in favor of voluntary guidelines, as other conservative states have done. State officials say they made the decision based on the availability of hospital beds and ventilators, which is in keeping with the Republican governor’s goal of not overwhelming medical facilities.

Nebraska’s hospitals have 36% of their regular beds, 31% of their intensive care unit beds and 81% of their ventilators available.

The state’s overall positivity rate is 9,5% while the national rate is 8.6%.