OMAHA - Monday marked the first day of Lincoln’s new mask requirement. Local leaders say the public health measure is needed to tamp down a growing increase in the number of coronavirus cases, especially before University of Nebraska-Lincoln students begin arriving for the fall semester and K-12 schools reopen in some fashion.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts had a decidedly different take, calling the mask mandate an example of government overreach that isn’t backed by hard data.

He said he is still reviewing whether Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department have the legal authority to require face coverings without the state’s permission.

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said she believes any mask mandate should come from Ricketts, not local entities. Stothert said she has been encouraged by how many people she sees in public wearing masks and by the declining percentage of people testing positive in Douglas County. Stothert also said that enforcing a local mask mandate would not be a good use of police resources.

Ricketts said he doesn’t want to see the state’s 500-plus municipalities coming up with a patchwork of conflicting regulations and restrictions, though regions of the state have been under different restrictions at times as coronavirus cases rise or fall in certain counties.

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