by Mary Margaret Olohan
Cases of coronavirus have begun to spike in Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota — states where governors have not issued stay-at-home orders.
Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming governors have not yet ordered residents to stay in their homes, Politico reported. President Donald Trump has referred to several of these states in noting that coronavirus has not severely affected populations there, despite laxer restrictions than other states that have implemented strict stay-at-home policies.
“They have fewer people and have lots of room,” Trump said Tuesday night at the White House, according to Politico. “There are numerous states that are in great shape right now … They are set to open practically now.”
But cases have increased more than 30% in North Dakota in the past five days, similarly increasing 22% in Arkansas and 26% in Oklahoma, Politico reported, comparing these outbreaks to the 26% increase in cases over the same period in New York.
In Nebraska, case counts have increased almost 30% in three days, Politico reported from the Nebraska Health Department. The Grand Island and Hall County area has seen 214 confirmed cases of the virus — numbers that amount to almost a quarter of total coronavirus cases in the state, according to Politico, and 28 workers have tested positive at JBS USA beef plant, the largest employer in Grand Island.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said his voluntary social distancing plan is working. Ricketts has pushed residents to remain at home, to avoid large gatherings and to implement the six-foot rule at work.
“This is a program that depends on people exercising personal responsibility and their civic duty,” Ricketts told Politico on Wednesday. “This is about making that decision, not the heavy hand of government taking away your freedoms.”
For the next 21 days, we are asking every Nebraskan to #StayHome and stay healthy. We are asking everyone to follow the Six Rules to Keep Nebraska Healthy as we work together to slow the spread and win the war against the virus.
Please SHARE to spread the word. pic.twitter.com/7Y9KMSeQth
— Pete Ricketts (@PeteRicketts) April 9, 2020
Researcher Charles Branas, chair of the Epidemiology Department at Columbia University who tracks hospital shortages and virus outbreaks, told Politico that every state is at risk from the virus.
“Perhaps there are governors who believe they have the medical capacity to deal with this [without a lockdown order],” Branas told the publication. “But I don’t know if that is wise, because once it gets out it can spread unabated and overwhelm any medical system of any size. Every state is at risk and should have aggressive social distancing policies.”
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Mary Margaret is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
I wish that our governor had not issued his stay-at-home order. I would gladly have taken my chances with COVID-19 for which there is a great probability of survival whereas there is little hope in regaining/retaining my Constitutional freedoms with all levels of government trampling all over them.