Nebraskans in virus hot zone ‘terrified’ after governor rejects stay-at-home order (Daily Beast)

Pete Ricketts has bucked calls for a statewide stay-at-home order from officials in Grand Island — where coronavirus is on the rise.

At home in Grand Island, Nebraska, retired cook Henry Anderson hears the sounds of growing panic from the radio scanner that hangs from a nail on his living room wall.

On Friday morning, there was chatter about a young woman and her daughter who were sick but also confused because they had not been around anyone infected with the new coronavirus. Earlier in the week, he remembered, the scanner brought word of a man who tested negative when he first fell ill but was now wondering if he should get retested because “it got all up in his lungs,” and he was pretty sure he had the virus.

“I get more news on the scanner than you do in the local newspaper,” Anderson, 64, told The Daily Beast. “There’s all kinds of things you don’t hear about.”

A hundred miles away in Lincoln, there’s an almost eerie calm — at least publicly. 

Pete Ricketts has closed schools (even before New York City did), banned gatherings of 10 people or more, and closed dine-in areas in restaurants — but he is one of only eight governors in the country to resist a statewide stay-at-home order. The state’s May 12 primary is still on the books, and last week, Ricketts was already talking about easing what restrictions are in place, and a mall in Gretna was planning on reopening on April 24.

“Reopening sit-down restaurants and bars may be a part of that,” Ricketts, a conservative Republican, said on Wednesday. “As we get into this toward the end of the month, we’ll be re-evaluating where we are with regard to where the virus is and making those decisions…”

To read the entire article from The Daily Beast, click https://www.thedailybeast.com/coronavirus-spiking-in-grand-island-nebraska-as-gov-pete-ricketts-rejects-stay-at-home-order?ref=home