NEBRASKA- Forty of Nebraska’s 93 counties, including Douglas County, are considered communities with substantial or high rates of transmission of COVID-19.

Under the revised recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that means even vaccinated people in those communities should mask up in indoor public places.

And, yes, it’s a recommendation, not a mandate. While school districts and governmental entities in some states have rushed to require masks, what appears to have been Nebraska’s last mask mandate — the one enacted by the Omaha City Council — expired in late May.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said Tuesday that the state will not be adopting the CDC’s recommendation. Ricketts repeatedly has opposed mandates for masks or vaccines.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director, said some counties and states now have 300 cases per 100,000 residents, an “extraordinary amount.”

Some of the Nebraska counties with substantial or high transmission, however, actually may not have a large number of COVID cases. In counties with smaller numbers of residents, even a relatively small cluster of cases can skew the numbers. Rates also can fluctuate from week to week.

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