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Oct. 22, 2021Omaha, Neb. |  By: AP

Ricketts rescinds hospital restrictions as capacity improves

hospital room

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Gov. Pete Ricketts has announced an end to restrictions that have kept hospitals from being overwhelmed with patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ricketts said Thursday that facilities can resume lower-priority surgeries starting Friday. The restrictions had been set to expire at the end of the month.

The order applied to inpatient Class D and E elective surgeries for all acute care, critical care and children's hospitals in Nebraska.

Class D and E surgeries are elective procedures that can wait four weeks or longer without substantially changing a patient's outcome.

Ricketts says he rescinded the restrictions because coronavirus hospitalizations have fallen below 10% of statewide hospital bed capacity.