Lincoln to end months-long mask mandate

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The last Nebraska community still requiring masks is dropping its mandate.

Lincoln Lancaster County Health Director Pat Lopez said in a news conference Tuesday that a health order requiring indoor masking will expire at the end of the day Thursday.

The county reinstated the mask requirement in August amid the delta surge. No other city or county in the state has required masks in indoor settings over the past four months, the Lincoln Journal-Star reports.

Lopez said the county has made “critical progress” over the past year in battling the virus, helped largely by the vaccine. Even without the requirement, she said masks are “strongly” recommended in schools and at indoor sporting events, theaters, gatherings of groups indoors, including church and faith-based services.

“This does not mean the pandemic is over, and it does not mean no more masks,” said Lopez.