City asked to ramp up virus precautions

McCOOK, Neb. — A McCook citizen and former city councilman urged the McCook City Council Monday night to take more action in light of the surging cases of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 Community Risk Dial from the Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department was moved to red on Monday, meaning residents of Southwest Nebraska are at severe risk of contracting COVID-19. The risk level was raised due to high levels of community spread across several counties and the threat of the healthcare system becoming overwhelmed. 

“Rome is on fire and I don’t want the council to fiddle, you guys can do something,” said Phil Lyons, a McCook attorney, at the start of the McCook City Council meeting Monday during the public comment portion.

Lyons cited positivity rates of the virus last week in the county, ranging from 27.3% on Friday to a high of 96% on Thursday, when 22 out of 23 tests were positive. “We need to do what we can to knock down the positivity rate,” he said.

McCook City Manager Nate Schneider asked Lyons to repeat the positivity rates from last week, and Lyons obliged: 33% on Monday, Nov. 9, 39% on Tuesday, 38.7% on Wednesday, 96% on Thursday, 27.3% on Friday, 35% on Saturday and from the week before on Nov. 2, the rate was 12% in the county.

Lyons reminded the council that they have a health board, with the Chief of Police the quarantine officer. “Let’s not fiddle, take a look at it and let’s see if we can put masks on, to keep our businesses open.”

Directed health measures come into effect at some point, Lyons continued, “but this is what we can do locally. When Rome is burning, let’s do something.”

Lyons referenced the legend that while a fire swept through the city of Rome in 64 AD, emperor Nero played his fiddle, showing his lack of concern for his people.

The council did not comment after Lyons spoke. Schneider started off the meeting with the announcement that non-essential meetings will be postponed but the McCook Planning Commission, Board of Zoning and McCook City Council will still meet. City staff will also confer with department heads on a weekly basis, he said.

Later in the meeting, the council was asked to discuss the status of scheduling a meeting with the public for future capital improvement projects and Mayor Mike Gonzales recommended that meeting be postponed until the spike in virus cases subsides.

This led to a discussion of city council meetings being done virtually, with Dawson Brunswick, McCook Area Chamber of Commerce director, asking if the council would consider Zoom meetings.

Schneider said personal content and conversations are lost in Zoom meetings, adding that the state authorization of public officials having virtual meetings has expired.

He referenced the Oct. 30, 2020, executive order issued by Gov. Pete Ricketts that said in light of the pandemic, certain local elected officials are able to attend local government meetings virtually when quarantine or isolation is ordered. The executive order goes through Dec. 31, 2020.

Mayor Gonzales ended Monday night’s meeting with two comments, one citing that Santa Claus Lane decorations have been set up on Norris Avenue islands and another about the Community Risk Dial for COVD-19 being moved to red. This means new restrictions and he asked citizens to follow the recommended guidelines from the local health department, that includes staying at home when possible, distancing, face coverings outside the home and frequent hand washing.

Before the start of Monday’s meeting, the McCook Gazette asked Mayor Gonzales if at some point he would ask the council for an indoor mask mandate in light of the COVID-19 risk dial being raised to red and Gonzales replied that as of now, there are no plans for that.