By GRANT SCHULTE-Associated PressLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Gov. Pete Ricketts on Wednesday announced plans to ease coronavirus restrictions in Lincoln and other parts of Nebraska, including some of the state's least-populated counties, even though the number of confirmed cases has surged.Ricketts said he will extend the state's current public health restrictions in the Lincoln area through May 10, and will then relax them to match the less stringent rules that are set to go into effect in Omaha on Monday. The Lincoln-area restrictions were originally set to expire on May 6.Ricketts, a Republican, said the decision to extend the restrictions before relaxing them was based in part on conversations with Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, a Democrat, and the county's public health director."It was a collaborative process," he said at a news conference.Public health officials in Lincoln have said they believe they have enough capacity to handle a surge in new cases and hospitalizations.But Gaylor Baird said Wednesday that she reserves the right to reinstate the tougher restrictions if conditions in the city worsen. She said she and Ricketts agreed to wait until May 11 to lighten the restrictions out of concern over&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/37a52f22147243a3f06468967ff2d225" target="_blank">Crete,</a>&nbsp;a meatpacking town about 25 miles from Lincoln that has seen a spike in cases."We are fully cognizant of the difficult balance between protecting public health and our economic vitality," Gaylor Baird said at a city news conference.Nebraska's current statewide restrictions prohibit restaurants from offering dine-in services and have forced the closure of salons and tattoo parlors. They also limited day care centers to allow no more than 10 children in one room.The new, lighter rules will allow salons, tattoo parlors and restaurant dining rooms to reopen with limits on the number of people who can be present. Restaurant employees will have to wear masks, and dining groups will have to be seated at least 6 feet apart. Day cares will be allowed to have up to 15 children per room.Ricketts announce last week that the first wave of lighter restrictions will&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/6a6f29bac43471481a2780cfc60116df" target="_blank">go into effect</a>&nbsp;May 4 in 59 of Nebraska's 93 counties, including Omaha's Douglas County.The new order unveiled Wednesday will apply to 10 more, including the counties that encompass Lincoln, Fremont, North Platte, Blair and Wahoo. It also will ease restrictions in some of Nebraska's most sparsely populated counties, including Arthur, McPherson, Thomas and Hooker - each with less than 750 people.Nebraska's total confirmed cases stood at 3,374 by Wednesday morning, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. There have been at least 55 virus-related deaths in the Nebraska. The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested and people can be infected without feeling sick.The governor's announcement came as a third Nebraska prisons department employee has tested positive for COVID-19.The staffer works at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln and has been isolated at home, according to the state Department of Correctional Services. Director Scott Frakes asked that anyone who may have had close contact with the employee in the last three days to self-quarantine until they are medically cleared to return to work.Earlier Tuesday, the prisons department had announced that an employee at its Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln had tested positive for the virus. The department says no inmates have tested positive.For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death.

Nebraska to ease restrictions in Lincoln and other regions