Friday, May 15
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Good morning,
Today we have stories about glimmers of hope in Grand Island as the rate of new cases falls, an outbreak at a senior care facility in Elkhorn and new CDC guidelines to help businesses as well as public institutions to reopen.
Your Top Local Stories
Check out an interactive version of this map on our website.
In Omaha
- Thirty one percent of Potawattamie County’s COVID-19 cases, 40 out of its 131 total, came Wednesday and Thursday, its biggest single-day increase so far.
- The Life Care Center in Elkhorn has reported 68 COVID-19 cases with one resident saying they’re scared it will spread through the whole building.
- Friends, family and hospital staff cheered on 73-year-old Ruby Jones as she walked out of the ICU after recovering from her fight with the coronavirus.
- A sixth Omaha police officer has tested positive for the coronavirus.
- A pop-up testing site in South Omaha got help from the county health department and community health center as hundreds come out to get tested.
- Holocaust survivor, 58-year Nebraska Furniture Mart salesman and now a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Good Samaritan Society in Millard reported an outbreak of 15 COVID-19 cases and three deaths.
- Federal jury trials in Nebraska will not continue until at least July 3, the state’s chief U.S. district judge announced.
- UNO is offering scholarships to health care workers and their dependents at UNMC and Nebraska Medicine for the upcoming school year.
- Ralston seniors got a socially distanced send-off as the community cheered them on in an amateur parade.
- While bars that serve food were allowed to open weeks ago, those that sell strictly alcohol will stay closed through May. Some owners feel singled out.
- Fourth of July festivities are cancelled in Ralston as officials shelve the fireworks and parade amid coronavirus concerns.
Around the State
- Officials say COVID-19 cases and deaths are finally dropping in Grand Island, a glimmer of hope for the ravaged community.
- Classes will likely be held in-person this fall at University of Nebraska campuses, but changes will have to be made to accommodate social distancing.
- Nebraska may have passed its COVID-19 peak, one UNMC expert says. But Gov. Pete Ricketts continues to urge caution.
- In Lincoln, those still trying to get masks, hand sanitizer and other essentials can visit a new online clearinghouse set up by the city.
- The ACLU is seeking state-aggregated COVID-19 data on race and ethnicity. Some county and regional health departments release that data, but it’s not published on a statewide basis.
- Today in Lincoln, different community organizations will offer translation and cultural outreach at a testing site set up to reach underserved communities.
- As contact tracing becomes a more buzzed-about tool in the fight against COVID-19, officials described how Nebraska is ramping up that process.
- Gov. Ricketts to hold daily press briefing today
What to do during quarantine?
From our list of things to do during quarantine:
Watch and Rank All The Physical Copies of Movies in Your Home
You bought hard copies of movies for a reason: What better time than a pandemic to organize your own film festival?
What’s Happening In The United States?
Huge Losses For Hospitals May Force Some To Close
- With surgeries and in-person visits on hold, hospitals are facing huge budgetary shortfalls that may leave some communities with less health care access.
- After an initial draft of reopening guidelines was deemed “too prescriptive” by the White House, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a guide that includes many general tips, such as not violating local laws, to help institutions make reopening decisions.
Poll: Majority of Those Still Working Fear Infecting Their Families
- As millions continue working while even more prep to return to work as states begin to reopen, a Washington Post poll of 8,000 people found about 60% worry they’ll get their families sick.
Legal Minefield Ahead for Any Business Reopening
- If cases increase after businesses reopen, culpability for those new infections will prompt questions many civil courts will likely have to consider.
What’s Happening Across The World?
Centenarian Raises $40 million for England’s National Health Service
- The British public boosted 100-year-old World War II veteran Tom Moore, nicknamed Captain Tom, into superstardom for his effort to raise money for the country’s health care system. The country watched as Moore did laps around an 82-foot brick patio in his quiet village home north of London, raising millions with every extension of his walker.
Omaha, NE 68107
*Correction: This article incorrectly stated That Good Samaritan in Millard would shut down following a COVID-19 outbreak.