OMAHA - Gov. Pete Ricketts, speaking on Jake Tapper’s Sunday show on CNN, said Nebraska will follow its own plans and guidelines on when to open local schools and businesses. The governor, video chatting from his Omaha home, said Nebraska will not change its novel coronavirus plans based on the federal government’s efforts to speed at least some reopening.

Ricketts said Nebraska has performed about 2,000 tests for COVID-19, the abbreviation for coronavirus disease 2019. The state’s plans were designed for being short on tests, he said. That will be adjusted as more become available.Tapper asked Ricketts how prepared Nebraska’s rural health system is to handle the spread of coronavirus and on the need for ICU space, which is spare in much of the state.

Ricketts said the key to helping rural hospitals is managing the spread of the virus and making sure testing protocols and availability are the same in rural areas as urban.

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