NEBRASKA CITY – Gov. Pete Ricketts marched Saturday at the AppleJack Parade in Nebraska City with a message that the state has done enough to slow the spread of coronavirus  to begin having parades and continue moving toward a more normal life.

The governor told people along the parade route that his last parade was at the Groundhog Day Festival in Unadilla last February. By March, directed health measures were clamping down on social gatherings and parades were off limits by spring.

 

 

He said the 2020 AppleJack Festival parade was possible because Nebraskans have taken the right steps to slow the virus.

Ricketts: “We want to allow people to go back to a more normal life. That means we have to continue practicing social distancing,  you know, keeping that six feet of distance, washing your hands, wearing a mask when you go to the store. Those are the tools we know will help slow the spread of the virus, but as we manage that virus, letting people go back to a more normal life because we have to go on with life, even while we’re slowing the spread of the virus.”

The governor said Nebraskans were able to slow COVID-19 to the point that its hospital bed capacity was not overwhelmed and people who needed ventilators had them available.

Ricketts: “We’re in phase four right now, just started that on Monday with some loosening of restrictions. Indoor venues are still limited at 75 percent. If you have events, you still have to submit a plan to the public health department. The next phase will be removing the DHMs entirely.”

He said it may take a while of monitoring the virus before the DHMs are a thing of the past.