With a mask mandate being extended until February 28th, social distancing and other safety procedures being in effect to help decrease the spread of COVID, cases seem to keep increasing in the city of Omaha.

According to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Douglas County has had a whopping 45,000+ COVID cases with nearly 400 deaths.

In a list on Becker’s Hospital Review, Nebraska is ranked in the top 5 for states who are dealing with the most COVID cases based on the amount of residents and the amount of cases.

”I think that Nebraska has handled COVID poorly because we are continuously rising in cases and hospitalizations and we don’t even have a mask mandate in place for the state,” junior Caiden Parsons said.

Many people are critical of Omaha choosing to have no hard lockdowns as cases increase. Some of the harder lockdowns that seem to happening in the U.S are LA’s shut down of all restaurant dining for 3 weeks, which started on Nov. 25 and New Mexico’s two week stay at home order which lasted from Nov. 16 until Nov. 30.

”Nebraska should’ve been more careful about opening stores and businesses and which ones,” explained sophomore Mia Gunset. “I also think that opening schools only caused more cases. And while I do like to eat out I also think that it affects our cases because there’s many people in an area without a mask.”

In Douglas County, most schools are operating with in-person students, whether it be in a hybrid model or 100% in-person. Whether the school model is in hybrid or 100% in person, the schools give students the chance to remain online for safety.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts chooses not to implement a state mandate due to certain opinions he he holds about people being able to monitor themselves without the government interfering. The Omaha City Council though, has decided to support and keep extending the mask mandate.

“I’m a little bit torn. I understand the personal liberty part of it, and the non-interference of government. I also understand from a medical perspective how busy we are with cover positive patients and how many hospitalizations there are,” Ricketts explained during a press conference.

Ricketts beliefs regarding not wanting to implement a statewide mask mandate has been controversial.

“I think that it is selfish of him to not impose a mandate for his personal beliefs,” Parsons said. “He was appointed to represent the people and right now he’s doing things in his interest instead of the people who gave him office.”