Tuesday, May 5
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The president and CEO of the homeless shelter in North Omaha had said if COVID-19 got into her facility “it would go like wildfire” through the population. Now it has six cases and awaits test results from 84% of its staff and residents.
View our guide to local resources at TheReader.com
Good morning,
Today we have stories about meatpacking plants around the state reporting deaths and closures, as well as OPS buying each of its students iPads and local health departments stepping up their number of contact tracers.
Your top local stories
Check out an interactive version of this map on our website.
In Omaha
- OPS will spend more than $27 million to provide every student with an iPad as the possibility of more distance learning this fall grows.
- You can now pick up books, movies and other materials at five Omaha Public Library locations offering curbside services.
- Monday saw glimpses of normalcy return as people dined in at restaurants, got haircuts and went to dentist appointments.
- TestNebraska, the state’s new web tool meant to increase testing capacity to 3,000 per day in a few weeks, opened its first drive thru testing locations in Omaha and Grand Island. However, there’s still no way for people without internet access to utilize the tool.
- Law enforcement continues cracking down on large crowds at parks, this time a party on a Platte River sandbar.
- Shopping Angels, a nationwide movement with support in Omaha, connects older or immunocompromised people with those who can do their shopping.
- To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Omaha Performing Arts will stream a mariachi band performance featuring a prominent local singer.
Around the State
- Nebraska meatpacking workers continue to suffer. One worker at a chicken processing plant in Fremont has died from COVID-19. West of there, in Schuyler, a beef plant announced it would close until around May 18 as a Tyson pork plant in Madison in northeast Nebraska said it would do the same. A woman who worked at a Dakota City plant also died after falling ill with the coronavirus last week.
- As testing increases, local health departments are stepping up their number of contact tracers.
- The state is still looking for poll workers, preferably younger and less vulnerable to the coronavirus, to staff voting locations on May 12.
- Now might be the perfect time to reconfigure Memorial Stadium as the possibility for a normal fall football season becomes more uncertain.
- A soap company in Hastings has started giving back, providing soap and sanitizing materials to facilities in need.
- Gov. Ricketts to hold daily press briefing today
What to do during quarantine?
From our list of things to do during quarantine:
Local Comedy Live Stream
If it’s laughs you’re looking for and you want to keep up with Omaha’s funniest comedians and live performances then you must check out the Backline livestreams on Patreon. Thursday through Saturday you can check out comedy in real time. Visit Backlinecomedy.com for more information and upcoming shows.
What’s happening in the United States?
Coronavirus Is Not Going Away Any Time Soon
- Even as states begin to reopen, cases continue expanding by 2% to 4% daily with no signs of slowing down.
- Now that trillions of dollars have gone out the door to help support America’s people and businesses, Congress has turned its attention to checking that spending as well as the White House’s pandemic response.
- As the outbreak continues to worsen on the nation’s largest Native American reservation, New Mexico’s governor has instated riot rules and closed down all entry points.
Pfizer Starts Human Trials on Coronavirus Vaccine
- The pharmaceutical company, along with the German company BioNTech, started trials that, if successful, could bring a vaccine to the market by September.
What’s happening across the world?
Japan Pushes Its Drug with Little Evidence
- Japan is spending $130 million to triple its stockpile of its homegrown drug it’s touted as a coronavirus cure despite causing birth defects in some and also having no solid evidence it works.
Check out more coverage online at TheReader.com
The Omaha Reader
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Omaha, NE 68107