Ricketts Reacts to President's Vision To Relax Social Distancing By Easter

NEBRASKA CITY – Responding to questions from reporters at his daily press conference, Neb. Gov. Pete Ricketts says President Donald Trump’s vision for an end of social distancing by Easter may not be realistic for some parts of Nebraska.

He said the health directive in Douglas County extends to April 30, while Easter is April 12.

The President said Tuesday he is hoping the United States will re-open by Easter as he relaxes nationwide social distancing guidelines.

Federal officials say the restrictions might be relaxed in areas not experiencing widespread infection and Gov. Ricketts said it is yet to be seen if some areas of Nebraska are able to review social distancing that soon.

Ricketts: “How long will some of these protective health measures last? Could it be eight weeks? It could be eight weeks.
We should set the expectations that we are going to be trying to manage this to make sure we don’t overwhelm our health care system."

Ricketts: “That will depend upon how many people present themselves to the hospital for the type of care we were talking about, especially that 1 to  2 percent that may need the intensive care unit – those ventilators."

Ricketts: “We’re going to really try to manage it. We want to try and make it as normal as possible as fast as we can, but we also have to understand that we’ve got to continue limit the size of public groups gathering to be able to slow the spread of the virus so that it does not overwhelm our health care system.”

Ricketts: “It is difficult to say. Again, I would say, Paul’s question, don’t expect to be at church at Easter? It will be different in different parts of the country and different in different parts of our state.”

The governor said Nebraska may find itself in better position than some other places in the country, including New York.

Ricketts: “I’m not on the ground in places like New York, which are obviously hugely impacted, but we have taken the most restrictive steps in Omaha based upon a plan we put together weeks ago, so we are not making decisions based upon some emotion of the moment, but a plan we are working… it is based on limiting big public gatherings.”

Ricketts:  “Where are we going to be or when Don asked the question about when is the peak going to be. It’s really too early right now for us to have good data to know because we have just implemented these measures that are going to make a difference in slowing down the virus."

Ricketts: “We know that we are implementing them sooner than other states like New York have,   relative to how much virus we have in the community, but we still need time for them to take effect to be able to really know they are impacting to slow the spread of the virus.”

According to an Associated Press report, Trump said he is already looking toward easing the advisories that have sidelined workers, shuttered schools and led to widespread economic slowdown.

Gov. Ricketts said the Nebraska plan is not about shutting down businesses, but limiting large public gatherings. He said it is working.