Custer County to move to Phase 4 of DHMs for COVID-19 restrictions

LINCOLN - - Each local health district continues to evaluate its progress in the fight against COVID-19. The Nebraska Governor’s Office and DHHS have started conversations with local health department districts about moving to Phase 4 Directed Health Measures.

Based on recent data trends, the Loup Basin Health Department jurisdiction is prepared to move to Phase 4 DHMs as of Friday, July 24, 2020. Loup Basin Public Health Department jurisdiction includes: Blaine, Custer, Garfield, Greeley, Howard, Loup, Sherman, Valley, and Wheeler.

“Our main goals have been to prevent our health care system from being overwhelmed and keep our community as safe and healthy as possible,: Chuck Cone, Director, said. “We have been aggressively managing COVID-19 and the level of activity in our jurisdiction has been fairly low. The decision to move to stage 4 of the directed health measures was based on logic as well as science. If waiting until there are no cases of Covid-19, it could be a long time. The precautions can’t be worse than the disease itself and there are still a lot of businesses that are being affected by not moving to the next stage. Inconveniencing them until we are 100 percent certain there is no risk could go on indefinitely. With the low numbers of active cases we have experienced in the past month, it seems it has finally become time to move forward to the final phase of the directed health measures. We believe we can continue to manage this virus and protect the residents of our nine (9) counties by maintaining good social distancing practices, wearing masks when appropriate, along with other preventive measures.”

Information on the guidelines, which are further relaxed in Phase 4 are available at http://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/ COVID-19-Directed-Health-Measures. aspx along with a document that outlines all phases.

Some of the Directed Health Measure regulations for Phase 4 are described below.

• Bars and Restaurants

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended. Some of the guidelines but not all, are: Each party must be seated at individual tables. Self-serve buffets and salad bars continue to be prohibited. All employees should wear face coverings.

• Childcare Facilities

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended.

• Churches

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended. Some of the guidelines, but not all, are: Parishioners who are sick or at risk are encouraged to stay home. Houses of worship should promote maintaining appropriate social distancing between parties (households) and promote the use of facial coverings. Doors, restrooms and other areas of common contact should be sanitized between services. The passing of collection plates, sharing of missals and hymnals and other practices which involved common touch items are not permitted.

• Gatherings

– Indoor gatherings will be limited to 75 percent of rated occupancy.

– Outdoor gatherings 100 percent of rated occupancy.

– Gatherings include but are not limited to Indoor or Outdoor Arenas, Indoor or Outdoor Auctions, Stadiums, Tracks, Fairgrounds, Festivals, Zoos, Auditoriums, Large Event Conference Rooms, Meeting Halls, Indoor Theaters, Libraries, Swimming Pools, or any other confined indoor or outdoor space.

– Six (6) feet separation between groups remains in guidance.

– Plans for reopening or expanding to new capacity limits must be submitted to the local health departments and approved for all indoor and outdoor locations/venues that hold 500 or more individuals (1,000 or more in counties over 500,000 population) before reopening is permitted. The reopening plan must contain planned number of guests, how the location will meet social distancing guidelines, and sanitation guidelines.

• Gyms, Fitness Centers/Clubs, Health Clubs, & Health Spas

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended.

• Salons, Barber Shops, Massage Therapy Services, & Tattoo Parlors/Body Art Facilities

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended. Some of the guidelines but not all, are: All clients and staff must wear face-masks at all items on-site. If necessary, for example for a shampoo, the customer is to remove the mask and hold it. Customer chairs should be six feet apart. Items that cannot be disinfected such as magazines, style-books, etc., should be removed. Disinfect all items that come in customer contact between customers. Provide hand sanitizer for customers. Customers are encouraged to wait in their vehicle or wait six feet apart

• Sports

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended.

• Wedding and Funeral Reception Venues

– Section is removed from DHM. Guidance will remain and use is recommended. Some, but not all, of the guidelines are: Funeral services in funeral homes are permissible as long as services comply with guidelines for houses of worship. Wedding services held in venues other than houses of worships are permissible so long as such services comply with the guidelines for houses of worship.

According to the LBPHD on July 10, the district’s total COVID-19 cases is 106. The breakdown by county is: Howard 48, Custer 40, Valley 8, Sherman 5, Greeley 4 and Garfield 1. LBPHD has a positivity on test of 3.81 percent. Approximately nine percent of the district’s population has been tested, which coincides with 10.4 percent of Nebraska’s statewide population.