The spread of coronavirus in Grand Island, Nebraska—one of eight states without a stay-at-home order—is getting worse by the day. Cases in Hall County, which encompasses the blue-collar city of 50,000, were up to 403 on Friday after the number of new diagnoses this week doubled. The local hospital has been forced to send some patients to other facilities to cope with the surge. Grand Island officials and doctors asked Gov. Pete Ricketts for a lockdown to get the outbreak under control, but he rebuffed them. Meanwhile, he’s said he won’t stand in the way of a shopping mall in Gretna reopening next week—before the state’s social-distancing campaign is even over.
