LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts is defending his refusal to issue a stay-at-home order for residents, arguing that it isn’t necessary for Nebraska even though 40 other governors have done so to try to keep the new coronavirus from spreading.
Ricketts says he doesn’t plan to deviate from his current approach, which includes a statewide, non-enforceable recommendation that residents avoid gatherings with more than 10 people.
The governor has taken a regional approach as well, ordering bans on 10-person gatherings and forcing restaurants to close their dining rooms in areas where confirmed cases of the virus can’t be traced.
Those bans are now in place in 56 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.