LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday he will extend Nebraska's current coronavirus restrictions through December as the number of residents hospitalized with COVID-19 dipped below 900 for the first time in more than two weeks.
The current restrictions require masks in certain businesses, such as salons and tattoo parlors, where it's difficult to maintain 6 feet of distance between people. They had been set to expire Monday.
Despite the decline in hospitalizations, hospitals remained strained across the state. Ricketts has faced growing pressure to impose a statewide mask mandate but has refused to do so, arguing that mandates breed resentment and may face resistance.
Ricketts was also asked at a news conference why the state didn't follow the White House's coronavirus task force's recommendation earlier this year that Nebraska require masks statewide. He said he viewed his less restrictive approach as better tailored to Nebraska's needs, even though the task force's report includes state and county-level data.
Nebraska officials said 896 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide on Sunday, down from the previous day's 911 and nearly 100 below the record of 987 set on Nov. 20. The number of hospitalizations has nearly quadrupled since the start of October when 227 people were being treated in hospitals.
Nebraska also said that coronavirus patients are occupying 22% of the state's hospital beds. If that number reaches 25%, Ricketts has said he will impose additional social distancing restrictions.
The state reported 1,143 new cases of the virus to give it a total of 126,466 cases since the pandemic began. The number of deaths remained unchanged at 989.
Nebraska had the sixth-highest rate of infection in the nation on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Over the past week, one out of every 156 people in the state was diagnosed with COVID-19.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nebraska decreased over the past two weeks, going from 2,062.71 new cases per day on Nov. 15 to 1,756.29 new cases per day on Sunday.