Pat Lopez, Interim Director of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD), today signed an updated COVID-19 Directed Health Measure (DHM). The original DHM for Lancaster County, scheduled to expire tomorrow, was extended through Sunday, May 10th. The updated version will be in effect from May 7th through May 10th.
The updated DHM is available at COVID19.lincoln.ne.gov and includes these new provisions:
- The language prohibiting body art facilities, massage therapy barber shops and cosmetology establishments from operating was updated to be more consistent with the state licensure language. This is a language change only, and these types of business operations continue to be among the gatherings that are prohibited.
- The DHM allows religious services to be consistent with the State DHM.
- The DHM now prohibits door-to-door sales and the processing of new peddler permits for safety reasons..
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird said the goal of the local DHM is to reduce the negative health and economic impacts that could result from the spread of the virus.
“Equally important is the fact that, while the DHM is in place, we use this gift of time to do the groundwork necessary both to contain COVID-19 wherever we identify it in our community and to ensure that our local businesses are informed and prepared to resume their operations as safely as possible when the moment is right,” Mayor Gaylor Baird said.
Mayor Gaylor Baird said she will announce later this week the plans for COVID-19 restrictions that would begin May 11th. Factors that local officials are considering in its decisions include the positivity rate, the number of new cases, testing capacity, the strength of the local health care system, and public health capacity for contact tracing.
More information on COVID-19 and the City’s response is available at COVID19.lincoln.ne.gov. The website includes information on how those with symptoms of COVID-19 can be tested in Lincoln.