BEATRICE – A Unified Command team in Gage County says it has been in contact with a few businesses that remain open, to make sure they are following appropriate guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control.  Team leader, Beatrice Fire Chief Brian Daake, says officials are aware of concerns expressed locally about businesses remaining open, after an employee has been diagnosed with a presumed case of COVID-19.

Daake says the names of the employees or businesses are not being released, for legal reasons. 

Meanwhile, Beatrice Police Chief Bruce Lang says police are working with incident command to alert local residents to potential scams targeting innocent people, during the pandemic.   Lang said there's no place for scammers or harassing behavior related to the outbreak. 

Lang said his department is also aware of community members harassing people who have tested positive or been clinically diagnosed presumed positive for COVID-19....and harassing businesses that employ them. 

He points out people become infected through no fault of their own.  He says issuing threats to them will make a person subject to arrest and prosecution.  The chief said, “Let’s remember we’re all in this together”.   He said he’s seen and heard many compassionate examples of residents caring for each other.

Three new COVID-19 related deaths reported to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Thursday, bringing the state's COVID-19 death toll to 24.

Two of the deaths were previously reported in Gage County. Both were residents of an assisted living facility. The first resident was a female in her 80s. The second was a male in his 70s with multiple underlying health conditions.

Douglas County saw its eighth death, that of a man in his 70s with multiple underlying health conditions.

The East Central Public Health Department announced that an individual in Nance County has been diagnosed with the virus, marking that county's first case.

Nebraska now has more than a thousand known coronavirus cases.   The state case total, as Thursday evening, was 1,066.