PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) - One Omaha suburb dropped its mask mandate 10 days after it took effect after the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus in the state declined.
Papillion officials linked their mandate to the level of virus hospitalizations when they joined more than a dozen other Nebraska cities in requiring masks.
The Papillion mask rule was eliminated this week because COVID-19 cases accounted for less than 20% of the state's hospital beds over the past 14 days. That metric is similar to the standard Gov. Pete Ricketts uses to determine whether to tighten or relax social distancing restrictions in the state.
Papillion City Councilman Bob Stubbe said he wanted to link the local mandate to that figure so the city would be in line with Ricketts' standards.
Nebraska said 677 people were hospitalized with the virus Tuesday. That represents 17% of the state's staffed hospital beds.
Dr. James Lawler with the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Global Center for Health Security said this is a bad time to relax mask rules because virus cases remain high even though they have improved recently.
"Clearly, the rates of transmission we have in the community are still astronomically high compared to what's desired," Lawler said.