Lancaster County reports steep rise in coronavirus cases

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One specialist referenced charts showing that the risk of disease transmission can be high even for someone wearing a mask if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19 who is not wearing a mask.

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On Thursday, during both National Nurses Week and National Hospitals Week, the selfie walls were installed at both Bryan East and Bryan West Campus hospitals.

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The organizer of the Corona Cruz expects at least 65 cars to join his rolling car show through Lincoln on Saturday.

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Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday that the state has begun to “plan for kids to come back to school in the fall” and launched conversations on when it would be safe to move ahead with the resumption of youth sports.

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At least one Nebraska health department says it will no longer report COVID-19 case numbers linked to specific meatpacking plants after Gov. Pete Ricketts raised health privacy concerns.

A Lincoln family recreates a “Wishtree” in their front yard as a way to share hopes during the pandemic.

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Officers broke up recent beach parties with more than 100 people.

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Gov. Ricketts said he has tried to balance restrictions with a regional loosening of mandates that preserves citizen willingness and responsibility, an approach sometimes described as “the hammer and the dance.” 

“We were failed by people who put profit margins and greed before people, predominantly brown people, predominantly immigrants, predominantly people who live in lower socioeconomic quarters,” one city official said.

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Months of planning and entire careers in public health have prepared the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department for what one employee called “the most defining moment of most of our lives.”

Department says prisoners who have symptoms will be tested. 

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In response to a request from the Journal Star, Bryan Health on Tuesday provided numbers on how many patients have entered the hospital and how many have left.

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B&R is seeing higher costs for many pork and beef products and supply is limited, the stores’ marketing director said.

Cain revealed on a video posted to Huskers.com that some of her immediate family members have recovered after bouts with coronavirus.

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Just what chunk of the $33.6 million in direct assistance Nebraska students are eligible for depends on where they attend and other factors.

Viengxay Khuninh, a worker at a Tyson plant in Dakota City, developed a cough, then a fever, last month. Less than a week later, he was dead.

Air National Guard member spends several weeks working in New York City hospital, goes home with COVID-19.

“The stories that came from those families, you could hear the common themes — I’m frightened, my hours were reduced, I’ve never been in this situation before,” said Foundation for LPS President Wendy Van DeLaCastro.

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So why did one customer come to Gateway Friday? “Sick of sitting at home. Wanted to get a new pair of kicks. My wife’s at work. I’ve got nothing to do.”

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The 669 workers with the virus represent over 15% of the Dakota City plant’s workforce. 

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The project, which aims to have Nebraskans copy all 1,189 Bible chapters to be assembled into a book, began this week.

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Administrators with St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart recognized workers with yard signs at the homes of more than 1,500 in Lincoln and beyond.

The looser restrictions will include the reopening of barbershops and salons — provided staff and patrons use masks — and allowing restaurants to serve dine-in customers at 50% of capacity.

Antonio Vargas, 72, who lives in Long Island, New York, had been in a hospital there in intensive care and on a ventilator for the past month. 

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She wants people to realize how serious the disease is: “I don’t want anyone to go through what my family did or experience the heartache that other families have.”

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Nader Farahbod, the owner of Billy’s Restaurant, says he’s happy to have Omaha lead the way forward. “We can see how the curve works, but eventually we all have to come out of this,” Farahbod said.

Have you been out cruising on O Street on Friday and Saturday nights?

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The plan to open classrooms acknowledges the possibility that class sizes may need to be reduced or adjustments may be required to class schedules in order to accommodate social distancing recommendations.

At least three teens were ticketed at Wagon Train Lake.

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The Lancaster County Agricultural Society voted this week to focus efforts on the 800 youth exhibitors who annually bring 5,000 entries to the fair.

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It’s unclear when restaurant and other restrictions will be lifted in Lancaster County. The current directed health measure covering the Lincoln area runs through May 6.

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In the latest state figures, Hall, Dawson and Dakota counties — all home to packing plants — accounted for half of the state’s 2,124 confirmed coronavirus cases.

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“They’re all at risk of you not seeing them when you come in for shift change the next day, because they could have died.”

Lincoln’s traffic decreases have grown steadily larger since mid-March, but this week’s drop is the most significant.

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Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday the state stands prepared to launch accelerated testing with the purchase of 540,000 tests.

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Nebraska has gotten two years’ worth of unemployment filings in four weeks, which means many people are waiting a month or more for benefits.

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While protecting the hospital system, the governor said, he recognizes that elective surgery is “an important source of revenue for hospitals (to) be able to stay in business.”

“I’ve talked to my colleagues, and we agree that if we’re looking at two patients and their families, we don’t want to have to make a decision as to who gets the ventilator,” said UNMC Dr. Keely Buesing.

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Parents learning to juggle working from home, child-rearing, finances and teacher duties.

For two weeks, Lincoln Public Schools teachers have been delivering lessons remotely using Google Classroom, Zoom, email, the district’s online grading system, public access and local cable TV and a host of education apps.

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Many rural hospitals have seen a low number of cases, but they still have faced a significant threat from the virus. 

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Fans weren’t the only ones missing out on an annual rite of passage because of the coronavirus pandemic. The game’s cancellation marked arguably the biggest hit yet for local businesses.

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It was the largest monthly increase in Nebraska’s unemployment rate in records that date back to 1976 and also the highest unemployment rate in the state since 2011.

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Doctors in Omaha invented a patient mask to protect healthcare workers in the operating and recovery rooms.

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Five patients have been transferred from CHI Health St. Francis in Grand Island to Omaha-area hospitals within the past 36 hours.

Executive Travel held a “grand reopening” and virtual ribbon cutting to celebrate employees returning to work.

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A 53-foot refrigerated trailer would serve as a backup to Lancaster County Emergency Management’s portable morgue should the coronavirus cause a surge in deaths. 

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“It just seemed like a terrible idea … to say here’s this stranger,” said the Lincoln High School teacher about having a substitute take her place.

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said while the city has relatively few positive cases compared to others based on population, health officials do expect to see more cases in the coming days.

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Nebraska lost more than 6,400 jobs in March, $17.2 million in wages and $2.2 million in self-employment income, the report estimates.

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A study by Kaiser Health News resulted in this headline in the Daily Beast that stirred internet traffic: “Nebraska getting $300G in federal money for each coronavirus case while NY gets $12G.”

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According to figures from the Realtors Association of Lincoln, home sales appear to have slowed down over the past couple of weeks.

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“It was shocking. It gives you that oh-my-God feeling,” said the daughter of a man at an Adams retirement home diagnosed with COVID-19. “A lot of people think this is a joke. They don’t understand the impact it is having on people.”

As of Friday, Bryan had five patients in its hospitals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 13 patients with suspected cases who are awaiting test results.

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“I thought it was a great message,” said Paige Duncan, adding that she thinks it’s one that connects with a lot of people right now.

Police and sheriff’s deputies in the Lincoln area are continuing to be called to more mental health calls, the suspected result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The governor said he would issue a new directed health measure to clarify rules statewide. One provision closes barber shops, beauty salons, tattoo parlors and gentleman’s clubs that were still allowed to operate in some areas.

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As more parking spots open up, more Lincoln residents are hitting city parks.

The Lincoln man who was the city’s first death from coronavirus was in his 50s and had an underlying health condition, city officials said Wednesday afternoon.

Amber Rolfzen has now experienced the worldwide health catastrophe in two waves. The first in Italy, then last month in Papillion.

“The plan is by noon to be at that 1,500 units-per-day production level,” University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineering Professor Shane Farritor said. “We’ll do that until the wheels fall off.”

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With warm weather, a pool skimmer, YouTube, some poster board, a bargain buy from Costco and an SUV, Liz Shotkoski and her four kids brought cheer to their neighborhood.

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The study suggests that COVID-19 patients may create aerosols of virus and contaminate surfaces that may pose a risk for transmission.

A number of businesses in Lincoln either just opened in the past few weeks or were scheduled to open soon are now faced with tough decisions about what to do in the face of restrictions on people being together.

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The uncertainty of an unprecedented global pandemic has changed everything for the more than 3,000 high school seniors in Lincoln’s schools.

Nebraska Medicine ear, nose and throat specialist Christie Barnes says over the past couple weeks UNMC has seen more patients that complain of loss of sense of smell with minimal additional symptoms of COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic has put plenty of aspects of life on hold, but at least one Lincoln couple refused to let social distancing stop them from taking their vows this week.

A Hall County woman in her 60s has also died from the coronavirus, officials said Friday afternoon.

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Lincoln funeral homes are staggering visitations and live-streaming services in the time of coronavirus.

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Residents watched and listened from their apartments and the balconies overlooking the center’s courtyard.

The order takes effect at 8 a.m. Thursday.

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“We are seeing up to 75 to 100 a day, which is an increase from what we typically see of 10 to 15 a day,” Chief Deputy Todd Duncan said Wednesday.

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One man reported the domestic violence class he had to attend, and another person reported too many people and pets inside PetSmart.

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The Meeting Place, which had hosted nearly 60 12-step recovery meetings every week, closed due to coronavirus precautions. But a Lincoln church opened its doors to more meetings.

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