Ricketts Extends Closure Of Non Essential Businesses Through May 31

LINCOLN- Governor Pete Ricketts has ordered the closure of all salons, tattoo parlors and strip clubs and announced the cancellation of organized group sports until May 31, expanding an order that was already in place in the state’s biggest cities.

Ricketts says the executive order was intended to bring consistency to a patchwork of mandates from local public health departments. Salons in Omaha, Lincoln and many surrounding communities have been closed since late last month, but some of those businesses had been allowed to remain open in other parts of the state.

State health officials say another COVID-19 death has been reported in Nebraska, bringing the state’s total to 15. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release late Thursday that the death, reported out of the Omaha area, was a woman in her 60s with underlying health conditions. The department also reported that Burt County in northeastern Nebraska and Polk County both reported their first cases of the virus on Thursday.

As of Friday morning, the state reported 577 cases of COVID-19 and more than 8,250 testing negative for the disease.