Gov. Ricketts: Nebraska Doesn't Need Mask Mandate, COVID Plan Is Working

Governor Pete Ricketts will stay with his plan to avoid a statewide mask mandate and will fight efforts in individual cities to require masks.

The governor points to hospital data that he says shows Nebraska has handled the pandemic well by asking residents to comply with common sense social distancing guidelines. He thinks forcing masks could lead to more resistance.

"I think what we have to do is have people understand what the appropriate use of a mask is and rely on their common sense and good judgement to do that," Ricketts said at a press conference on Wednesday. "That’s the approach we’ve taken at the state and folks, we’ve been successful. All this is about is making sure we preserve our hospital capacity and we’ve done that."

Ricketts says there are around 150 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, which is a small percentage of total hospitalizations in Nebraska.

"The coronavirus cases are only taking up less than 4% of our hospital beds, less than 4% of our ventilators," Ricketts said. "We’ve got lots of capacity there to provide that acute care."

38% of the state’s 4,000 hospital beds are currently available and almost 80% of ventilators. There have been more than 27,000 thousand confirmed coronavirus-positive tests in Nebraska.

Omaha is the largest U.S. city currently without a mask mandate in place. Health officials in Douglas County backed away from a plan to enact a face covering mandate in the city of Omaha. County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour cited a disagreement between city attorneys and the Nebraska Attorney General’s office over whether she had the authority to force a mandate.