OMAHA- Seven of Nebraska’s 10 largest cities have now passed local mask mandates, as Gov. Pete Ricketts continues to resist a statewide requirement. City leaders, including local public health officials, have imposed mandates in response to rising coronavirus cases and deaths across the state. With the flurry of new mandates, more than half of Nebraska’s 1.95 million people now live in a community that requires a mask to be worn indoors.

Most cities with mandates are in eastern and central Nebraska. Eleven of the state’s 25 most populous cities have a mandate. None is west of Kearney.

Gering, which does not have a mandate but encourages use similar to Governor Ricketts, has seen a dramatic spike in cases over the last month. Fire Chief Nathan Flowers, in a recent press release, noted that call volumes for local volunteer paramedics have surged 42%. He pleaded for the public’s help in wearing masks so ambulances aren’t delayed. Bree Robbins, city attorney in Nebraska’s third-largest city, Bellevue, has questioned whether a local mask ordinance would be legal. But Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike said his city is considering its options, including a ban, as more cities adopt mandates. One other possibility: providing signs for businesses that want them recommending that masks be worn.

The number of communities enacting mask ordinances snowballed after State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha said in mid-November that state law gives cities of all sizes the authority to “make regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of contagious, infectious or malignant diseases into the city.”

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