(Lincoln, NE) -- Lincoln's mask mandate is going away.
On Friday, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department announced that due to significant declines in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations its local Directed Health Measure would end at 11:59 Friday night. The measure, which includes a mask mandate for anyone over the age of 2, was originally scheduled to end February 25.
LLCHD says the number of new COVID-19 cases has dropped 80% over the past four weeks, and the seven-day average of new daily cases is now less than 100. They say the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized has decreased 47% since February 1, and hospitals have reported less than 100 COVID-19 patients each day since February 11.
“Thank you to all those who have taken the precautions to slow the spread of the virus,” said Health Director Pat Lopez. “Our collective actions are helping our community come through this surge. Together, we’ve helped our hospitals preserve capacity, our schools keep classrooms open, and limited disruptions to local businesses. COVID-19 is moving to a level that is more manageable, but the pandemic is not over. COVID-19 is unpredictable, and if our local situation changes, we will re-evaluate the current recommendations and make adjustments as necessary.”