LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday that Nebraskans should be allowed to “return to normal” as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to fall in the state. 

Ricketts’ comments came a day after local health officials eliminated a temporary mask mandate in Omaha. 

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska continued to fall sharply over the past two weeks, going from 2,027.86 new cases per day on Feb. 1 to 364.43 new cases per day on Feb. 15. 

That number was consistently above 4,000 from mid-January until Jan. 26 during the peak of the surge of the omicron variant of the virus.

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 </figure>From the Associated PressLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts said Thursday that Nebraskans should be allowed to “return to normal” as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to fall in the state. Ricketts’ comments came a day after local health officials eliminated a temporary mask mandate in Omaha. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska continued to fall sharply over the past two weeks, going from 2,027.86 new cases per day on Feb. 1 to 364.43 new cases per day on Feb. 15. That number was consistently above 4,000 from mid-January until Jan. 26 during the peak of the surge of the omicron variant of the virus.

Gov. Ricketts urges fewer restrictions as COVID cases fall