During a Sunday afternoon news conference city and county officials warned residents and the managers of big retail stores to prevent crowding in the stores.
Douglas County Health Director Adi Pour said area residents need to do more to comply with social distancing directives and says she was getting complaints about crowded stores.
"They are just as busy as ever before. That shouldn't happen at this time," Pour says.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert also admonished managers of the big stores to limit the number of customers after she personally saw the crowded parking lots.
"Menards' Home Depot, Walmart, Costco and Sam's. The parking lots are full." Pour says she prefers compliance and does not want to order them to close because people still needed to buy essential items, but she says people shouldn't be shopping at them to do home decor projects.
Nine new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Douglas County Sunday, including two long-term care patients at the Douglas County Health Center. The center's administrator, Erin Nelson, believes the patients got the virus from an infected employee.