Lincoln mayor’s response to questions about areas of community exposure to COVID-19

Lincoln mayor's response to questions about areas of community exposure to COVID-19

Many viewers continue to ask Channel 8 Eyewitness News why health officials are not saying where people who have tested positive for COVID-19 have traveled in our community.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Interim Director Pat Lopez have repeatedly said that residents should treat any public space as a site for potential exposure and take the appropriate precautions.

Channel 8 Eyewitness News once again asked the mayor for an answer Friday afternoon. Here is her response:

“One thing I can say that’s been made clear by our health department is that, now that community spread cases have taken hold in our community, people need to understand that COVID-19 could be anywhere. Anywhere you go in public presents the risk of exposure. And that’s why, even if the health department listed specific locations, we don’t want to give a false sense of security to people that other places not listed are perfectly safe. The potential for exposure to COVID-19 exists community-wide now that we have community-acquired cases. And that’s why we need people to observe these important safety precautions – to wear face coverings out in public, to protect those around them in case they are asymptomatic spreaders. We need to make sure people are doing their best to stay home as much as possible, and particularly if you are sick. If you are sick stay home and isolate within your home. And if anyone else in your household and you are sick, they also need to self-quarantine and stay home. And this is how we put the virus in a box. We need to try to put the virus in a box, and the best way we do that is by limiting our movements in the community and assuming that we could get it anywhere out in the community.”