LINCOLN – Governor Ricketts announced yesterday that the current directed health measures for the health districts of Lincoln/Lancaster County, Three Rivers Public Health Department and West Central Health Department will continue until May 11th.
On May 11th:
The DHM for the above listed health districts will be relaxed, similar to what has already been announced for Cass, Douglas and Sarpy counties. The changes will include:
Restaurant dining rooms will be allowed to reopen on May 11th in Dodge, Saunders and Washington counties. Restaurants are limited to 50 percent of maximum occupancy rating at a time. Other changes are outlined at: Restaurant In-Room Dining Reopening Guidelines (Guía de Reapertura de Restaurantes Tipo Comedor)
All restaurants who plan to reopen in this health department district on May 11th should carefully read the guidelines – there are requirements for disinfection procedures, masking of employees, health screening of employees and several other requirements restaurants will be required to uphold.
Beauty and nail salons, barber shops, massage therapy services and tattoo studios can open, while maintaining the 10 person rule (for businesses, this means no more than 10 patrons in your facility and does not include employees). Employees and customers must be wearing masks. It will be a misdemeanor to violate the masking requirement.
Childcare facilities will be permitted to have up to 15 children per room/space, an increase of five over the current requirements. Other guidelines, including no mixing between classroom groups, should still be adhered to.
All other businesses currently ordered to close must remain closed until May 31, or until the orders are amended. This includes bars, gentlemen’s clubs, bottle clubs, indoor movie theatres, and indoor live theatres.
On May 4th:
Churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other places of worship can resume services, weddings and funerals beginning May 4. Households must sit together and each household must meet a minimum of six feet of separation from other household units.
Previously, Governor Ricketts announced hospitals can resume elective surgeries on May 4, if hospitals meet certain capacity requirements. In addition to these surgeries, dental offices, eye care clinics and veterinary clinics can also reopen for general services and will no longer be limited to emergency service only.
Still waiting for clarification:
Gyms and fitness centers were never ordered closed by a state level DHM. Instead, gyms and fitness centers/studios were and are currently limited to 10 patrons at a time, and are required to keep 6 feet of distance between patrons.
However, in the City of Fremont, gyms were ordered closed by the Community DHM, which expires May 6th.
At this time, Three Rivers Public Health Department is still determining the requirements and possible date of reopening for gyms and fitness centers/studios in the City of Fremont. Check back for updates on this category.
As of May 11th, 13 of Nebraska’s 19 health department districts will be under a relaxed DHM. The remaining six districts will continue to be under a more restrictive DHM.
Restrictions Relax May 4th:
o Douglas County Health Dept.
o Sarpy/Cass Dept. of Health
o East Central District Health Dept.
o Four Corners Health Dept.
o Loup Basin Public Health Dept.
o North Central District Health Dept.
o Northeast Nebraska Public Health Dept.
o Panhandle Public Health District
o Southeast District Health Dept.
o Southwest Nebraska Public Health District
Restrictions Relax May 11th:
o Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Dept.
o West Central District Health Dept.
o Three Rivers Public Health Dept.
