LINCOLN â Nebraska meatpacking workers account for nearly one of every six cases of coronavirus in the state, according to state officials.
Gov. Pete Ricketts released figures Thursday showing that 1,005 of the stateâs 6,771 cases reported as of Wednesday evening involved employees at packing plants and other food processing plants. Total cases topped 7,000 as of Thursday evening.
At his daily coronavirus briefing, Ricketts resisted calls to name the plants involved and said he has advised local health departments to ask permission from the meatpacking companies before reporting about cases at specific plants.
Ricketts also said local departments should verify employment information before reporting that cases are linked to specific plants, citing cases in which he said that people being tested have not given accurate information.
âWe want to make this a collaborative process,â he said, when asked why private businesses should be allowed a veto over health information.
Some local public health departments have released information naming local meatpacking plants that were seeing coronavirus cases among employees. Some also reported names of long-term care facilities in the area where residents or staff had tested positive for the potentially deadly virus. Ricketts said the state would reveal that information only in the aggregate as well.
Nursing home and assisted living residents account for two of every three deaths in Nebraska, or 57 of the 86 total deaths as of Wednesday. State records show that 267 residents and 188 staffers at those facilities have tested positive for the coronavirus.
By contrast, three meatpacking workers have died.
The people most at risk from coronavirus are older people and people with underlying health problems, which describes most long-term care residents. A large share of deaths in Nebraska have occurred in communities that have seen disease outbreaks centered on meatpacking plans.
Advocates for meatpacking workers have complained that not enough was done early enough to protect employees who work shoulder-to-shoulder as they trim meat from carcasses of hogs, cattle and chickens.
Outbreaks have caused packinghouses in Madison and Schuyler to close temporarily and others to slow production. A backlog of slaughtering operations in Nebraska and other states has hog producers contemplating euthanizing pigs that they can no longer afford to feed.
On Thursday, Ricketts acknowledged that cases could have been prevented if state officials or the meatpacking companies had acted sooner to protect workers.
âYes, if Iâd known things two months ago that I know today, Iâd have done things differently,â he said. âThatâs called experience.â
State and local health officials began taking steps in April after several cases were discovered among employees at the JBS plant in Grand Island. The steps included visits to the plants from infection control experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the development of an infection control âplaybookâ for meatpackers and regular calls with the governor.
Ricketts said that experience in dealing with that first packinghouse hot spot in Grand Island helped officials address a later outbreak at the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant in Lexington.
âTrying to Monday-morning quarterback this is a little difficult, because nobody has dealt with this in 100 years in our country,â he said. âWeâre learning from our experience. Weâre doing a better job.â
Nebraska last dealt with a pandemic, the so-called Spanish influenza, in 1918.
During the briefing, the stateâs chief medical officer, Dr. Gary Anthone, said utilization of hospital beds in both Grand Island and Lexington had declined this week, which is good news.
On other topics, Ricketts said no decision has been made about when youth sports might be allowed to start up again, but it will not happen in May. Nor will there be any change this month in the expectation that anyone who travels outside Nebraska or comes into the state should quarantine themselves for 14 days, he said. The quarantine requirement does not apply to people who travel because of work.
Photos: Our best staff photos of May 2020
Iowa Bars

Customers drink at the The BLK Squirrel in Council Bluffs on Thursday. It was the first days bars could reopen in Iowa since being closed to limit the spread of coronavirus.Â
Iowa Bars

Kelsie Nelson makes drinks at the BLK Squirrel in Council Bluffs on Thursday. âWeâre really excited to be back, weâve missed our customers quite a bit, and we havenât had that face-to-face interaction, so being able to do that is nice,â she said.
Protest 1

People listen to speakers at the protest of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police during a rally at the Omaha police's northeast precinct on Thursday.
May Rain

A ant crawls between raindrops on a peony ready to bloom in midtown Omaha on Wednesday.
May Rain

Geese and goslings swim as rain falls at Fontenelle Park in Omaha on Tuesday.
Memorial Day

Andrea Williams, left, and Linda Simmonds walk through Forest Lawn Memorial Park to lay flowers on the grave of Robert Simmonds on Saturday.
Memorial Day

Pat Brown and her son Daryl Brown Sr. make their way to decorate a grave on Sunday at Mount Hope Cemetery in Omaha.
Memorial Day

Cindy, left, and Greg Blome lay flowers at the graves of numerous relatives buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park on Saturday.
Memorial Day

Pat Brown holds great-grandson Maxwell Carter's hand while decorating a grave Sunday at Mount Hope Cemetery in Omaha.
The King is watching

Morgan Smith, right, gives James Anderson a haircut at The Men's Salons - Aksarben.
Fence Message

A message for students graces a fence at the Bryan Elementary School in Millard.
Flights of Honor

The Flights of Honor free exhibit, commemorating Honor Flights for Nebraska veterans and military families, runs through Memorial Day at the VFW Post 2503 in Omaha.
Restaurants Reopen

Shirleyâs Diner is one of the many restaurants in Omaha welcoming back customers. Restaurants must space tables six feet apart among several restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus.Â
Musicians for Healing

Christina Klem serenades a resident at Fountain View Retirement Community. Klem was part of a group of mostly medical students giving a window concert. For many, itâs the first entertainment theyâve had in months.
Fill a Growler

Dawn Campbell, left, sells Megan Rerucha two growlers at Zipline Brewing Co. in downtown Omahay. Bars can take a step toward normal service on June 1.
Salvage yard fire

Firefighters battle a fire at U-Pull It Used Auto Parts north of downtown Omaha.
Salvage yard fire

People watch as firefighters battle a fire at U-Pull It Used Auto Parts north of downtown Omaha.
Spring Storm

A thunderstorm that prompted a tornado warning moves over Interstate 29 on Saturday near Glenwood, Iowa.
Eagle

A bald eagle prepares to take off from a tree on Lambert Avenue southwest of Pacific Junction, Iowa after watching a storm to the north that spawned a tornado warning on Saturday.
Grad Surprise

Jennifer Peck, left, shows her son Jack Wilkins his surprise graduation party at their west Omaha home on Friday.
First Patient 1

Emma Hutchinson and her father, Ralph Hutchinson, stand for a photo in his Omaha home. They were the first and second confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Nebraska. Emma spent weeks in the hospital and was put on a ventilator as she recovered.
First Patient 1

Hutchinson with a note she made for the staff of the Nebraska Medical Center. She spent 30 days at the hospital.
Last day of school 1

Dawn Zumbrennen, an eighth grade American history teacher, waves to students in the bed of a truck during a summer send-off parade at Elkhorn Valley View Middle School on Friday. It was the last day of virtual classes after the public school had to close because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Last day of school 10

A summer send-off parade at Legacy School on Friday. It was the last day of virtual classes after the private school had to close because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Recovery

Immanuel health care workers who cared for Ruby Jones in the ICU and in rehab gather to cheer her as she is discharged.
Rain

Tire tracks are left in the ribbons of rain in an Omaha parking garage on Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
Kosher BBQ

Rabbi Yoni Dreyer and his children Lavi, Tchiya and Eitan watch Peter Brunette entertain families in their vehicles with a juggling routine at a Lag BâOmer celebration with a drive-thru kosher barbecue at Chabad House in Omaha on Tuesday.
Kosher BBQ

Rabbi Mendel Katzman dances with his grandson, Yitzchak Baumgarten at a Lag B'Omer celebration with a drive-thru kosher barbecue at Chabad House in Omaha on Tuesday. Lag B'Omer is a holiday of Jewish pride and unity, often celebrated with a bonfire, emblematic of the soul rising up as flames do.
Nebraska Primary Voting

Sharon Beverly waits for voters at a downtown Omaha precinct on Tuesday during the Nebraska primary. Precinct sites had social distancing measures in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Nebraska Primary Voting

A voter fills out a ballot at Nathan Hale Magnet Middle School in Omaha on Tuesday.
Roadmaster

A 1949 Buick Roadmaster is lifted into the Redfield building in downtown Omaha on Monday, May 11, 2020. The building was once Nebraska's biggest Buick dealership, and is now being refurbished with space for offices and a restaurant.
Online Graduation

Matthew Meacham steps outside for photos while wearing his cap and gown after watching the University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduation celebration.
Online Graduation

Matthew Meacham wears his cap and gown while watching the University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduation celebration with his mom, Jeanette, sibling Kai and their miniature Australian shepherd, Ryder, at his family's Omaha home on Saturday.
Sunday services return

Parishioners pray during Mass at Saint Cecilia Cathedral on Sunday in Omaha.
Sunday services return

Deacon James Tardy reads during Mass at Saint Cecilia Cathedral on Sunday in Omaha.
NorthStar

Scott Hazelrigg canât bring kids to NorthStar, so heâs going to their homes to make sure they are doing okay during the pandemic.Â
NorthStar

William Sherrod, top, hugs his mother Rhonda Scott in their front yard Wednesday while talking with NorthStar president Scott Hazelrigg. Hazelrigg is visiting youths who used to attend NorthStar enrichment programs but can't because of the coronavirus.
Sunday services return

Ron Helms hands out masks at Saint Cecilia Cathedral on Sunday in Omaha.
Mariachi music

Emmanuel Saunz performs mariachi music for healthcare workers outside OneWorld Community Health Center in Omaha on Friday, May 8, 2020. The clinic has been testing potential novel coronavirus patients in the parking lot of the south Omaha location.
A letter of praise

A letter of appreciation for those on the frontlines of the novel coronavirus pandemic outside a home in Omaha on Wednesday, May 06, 2020.
A sign of hope

A message of hope during the novel coronavirus pandemic from a home in Omaha on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.
Nebraska begins to reopen

People dine at Harold's Koffee House on the first day of loosened coronavirus restrictions on Monday, May 04, 2020.
Test Nebraska begins in Omaha

A worker uses a swab to test someone for coronavirus at a drive-thru testing site in Lot D of the CHI Health Center.
Test Nebraska begins in Omaha

CHI Health medical professionals applaud a child who underwent testing for the novel coronavirus on Monday outside Omahaâs downtown arena.
Test Nebraska begins in Omaha

Medical workers wait for people at a tent at a drive through testing site in Lot D of the CHI Health Center on Monday, May 04, 2020. This was part of the TestNebraska initiative launched two weeks ago by Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Volunteers help Food Bank for the Heartland

Volunteers and members of the Nebraska National Guard unload donations at the Food Bank for the Heartland 10525 J St., on Saturday, May 02, 2020.
Volunteers help Food Bank for the Heartland

A member of the Nebraska National Guard directs traffic during a food drive at the Food Bank for the Heartland 10525 J St., on Saturday, May 02, 2020.
Volunteers help Food Bank for the Heartland

Volunteers and members of the Nebraska National Guard unload donations at the Food Bank for the Heartland 10525 J St., on Saturday, May 02, 2020.
paul.hammel@owh.com, 402-473-9584