Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts is acknowledging the upcoming expiration of directed health measures in Douglas, Cass and Sarpy counties, saying he plans to update them soon.
In his daily update on the state's COVID-19 response Wednesday, Ricketts said DHMs for other counties will also need to be reworked in the first weeks of May.
In Wednesday's update, Ricketts also answered questions about the state's unemployment payment backlog. He says the goal is to have 75% of checks out in about 21-28 days, noting that other states are struggling with the same issue and in some cases, at an even slower pace. "We need a lot of patience because we're going through a lot of these applications. I know it's tough waiting on checks. We're trying to do the best job we can bringing on more people to do it, but it's going to take time."
Ricketts also made not on Wednesday that about 20,000 Nebraskans have signed up so far for the Test Nebraska program, which will expand COVID-19 testing in the state. The governor encourages all Nebraskans, whether they're showing signs of the virus or not, to sign up for the program at TestNebraska.com