Ricketts: 48 of First 70 COVID-19 Deaths Have Been Among Long-Term Care Residents

More than two-thirds of deaths from COVID-19 in Nebraska have been among residents of long term care facilities like nursing homes, according to figures released by Gov. Pete Ricketts Friday. And the governor announced the first testing under the state’s new TestNebraska program would begin Monday in Omaha and Grand Island.

The first breakdown of cases and deaths from COVID-19 in long-term care facilities like nursing homes was provided by the governor in answer to a question at his daily news conference on the coronavirus.

“We’ve had 242 total cases and 48 deaths in long-term care facilities out of about…52 total nursing homes that have been impacted by that,” Ricketts said.

Ricketts added many of those who died were in hospice care, although he didn’t specify how many.

Those figures mean less than 6 percent of the state’s total cases of COVID-19 – which stood at 4,281 Thursday night have been among residents of long-term care facilities. But nearly 69 percent of the deaths, which stood at 70 as of Thursday night, have been among those same residents.

The governor said a breakdown of which facilities the residents had lived at would not be provided. A follow-up question after the news conference about the reason for that was not immediately answered. Officials did clarify that the long-term care facilities include nursing homes, skilled nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

Also Friday, Ricketts announced testing under the state’s new TestNebraska program would begin Monday in Omaha and Grand Island. In Omaha, it will be at the CHI Health Arena from 1 in the afternoon to 6 in the evening. In Grand Island, it will be at the State Fairgrounds from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening.

The governor said in order to be tested, people will have to have filled out an assessment online at testnebraska.com, and have received an email confirming they have been selected for testing.

“You just can’t show up. You have to have that email that you got that you were selected to get the test, and then you’ll be given a 30-minute block of time to be able to show up and get the test. What’ll happen is you’ll get swabbed, we’ll take the sample, we’ll process it in our lab, and we’ll send you an email with the results. We’re shooting for about a 48-hour turnaround time on that entire process,” he said.

Priority for testing will be given first to health care workers and first responders, then to people with symptoms, and finally those without symptoms, he said.

Before Ricketts spoke, a number of demonstrators gathered outside the Capitol calling for a more aggressive approach to reopening the state. Among them was Liam Kreikemeier.

“We believe that it should be our choice when we go back to work and whether stores and other things should be open. And if people so choose to stay home, then that is well within their right,” Kreikemeier said.

Asked about the demonstration, Ricketts said the state would stick to its incremental approach, which he said is aimed at preventing the health care system from being overwhelmed. We’re going to take this a step at a time, start loosening restrictions gradually, make sure we can keep the health care system stable, preserve that health care system so everybody can get that care, and then we will start loosening these restrictions as we see that we’re able to do that,” he said. Restrictions including those on restaurants, beauty parlors, barbershops and daycares are due to be loosened in 59 of the state’s 93 counties on Monday, with loosening in another 10 counties scheduled a week later.