Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts told Newsmax TV on Wednesday that businesses in his state can soon begin reopening “with certain restrictions” to keep the coronavirus from spreading.
Ricketts, whose state has one of the lowest number of infections in the country, told “The National Report” that state officials are considering reopening the state because of its low rate of infections, noting that healthcare officials recommended a lockdown to make sure that hospitals don’t reach capacity.
“What we are looking at is our hospital capacity, and that really is what we were told by our health officials all along was the whole point is to make sure that you slow down the spread of the virus so that everyone who needs a hospital bed, an [Intensive Care Unit] bed or ventilator can get one.
He said that at this time, about “42% of our hospital beds are available,” as are “48% of our ICU beds and 76% of our ventilators, so we believe that with certain restrictions, hospitals can begin elected procedures and we can begin looking at loosing other restrictions as we go into the month of May.
Ricketts said that his state did not impose a shelter-in-place order, but that many businesses voluntarily closed. Some of these places, like salons, barbershops and dine-in restaurants, may start to reopen soon, possibly in May.
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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