City of Lincoln and Lancaster County Coronavirus (COVID-19) Business Resources

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Moderate Risk of COVID-19 Spread

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The dial's current week pointer is at low yellow, or 2 on a scale of 1-8 (1 is low risk; 8 is severe risk). The dial's previous week pointer is also at 2.
Severe High Moderate Low

The COVID-19 Risk Dial provides a summary of current conditions in the Lincoln-Lancaster County community. Each color incorporates federal and national guidance published by public health experts and is coupled with specific guidance.

The Risk Dial was developed to help communicate the risk of spread and impact of COVID-19 in the community. Since its inception in May 2020, multiple metrics have been used based on local data. The Risk Dial currently uses five indicators: Case Rate, Health Care System Capacity, Vaccination Rate, Wastewater Surveillance and Death Rate. Indicators like Positivity Rate, Contact Tracing and Testing Turnaround Time have been retired due to the evolving landscape of COVID-19 testing.

This is only guidance and does not replace federal, state, or local directed health measures. At-risk and vulnerable populations should take stringent precautions.

More information about the Risk Dial and its metrics can be found in the Risk Dial Metrics document.

Community Guidance and Recommendations
Outside the Home
Get Vaccinated
Physical Distancing Outside the Home
Face Masks Outside the Home
  • Wear a face mask if you have allergy, cold or COVID-like symptoms
  • Wear a mask based on your personal preference, informed by your vaccination status and personal level of risk
Hand Washing Outside the Home
  • Frequently wash hands for at least 20 seconds, especially after touching high contact surfaces, sneezing/coughing/touching face, or before eating
  • Use hand sanitizer when handwashing is inaccessible or infeasible
Illness Monitoring Outside the Home
  • If ill with allergy, cold or COVID-like symptoms, wear a mask, get tested or use a home test, stay at home, and contact your health care provider for information and available treatments if you test positive
  • Minimize contact with symptomatic people
At Home
Get Vaccinated
Physical Distancing at Home
  • No distancing for people without symptoms, unless they are under quarantine
Face Coverings at Home
  • If you or someone in your home are at high risk for severe illness, wear a mask around others
  • If you or someone in your home has tested positive for COVID-19 and you are unable to fully isolate, wear a face mask
  • Wear a face mask if you have allergy, cold or COVID-like symptoms
Hand Washing at Home
  • Frequently wash hands for at least 20 seconds, especially after touching high contact surfaces, sneezing/coughing/touching face, or before eating
Illness Monitoring at Home
  • If ill with allergy, cold or COVID-like symptoms, wear a mask, stay away from others in your home, get tested or use home test, and contact health care provider for information and available treatments if you test positive
  • Minimize contact with symptomatic people
At-Risk and
Vulnerable Populations

For adults over age 65, anyone with underlying health conditions, and other populations at heightened risk from COVID-19:

Exposure and Isolation Guidance

If you’ve been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, wear a mask when you’re around others and get tested at least 5 days after your exposure (or sooner if you have symptoms). If you test negative, continue taking precautions through day 10. If you test positive, follow isolation guidance.

COVID-19 Isolation and Exposure Calculator

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s isolation and exposure calculator helps determine if you need to isolate or take other steps to prevent spreading COVID-19.

Mayor's Economic Recovery Task Force

The Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force has issued a report with recommended strategies for supporting Lincoln’s economic recovery and resilience. These recommendations serve as a call to action to residents, employers, and public and private sector leaders. Check out the full Task Force Report, Executive Summary, and Appendix (see summaries in Arabic, Spanish, and Vietnamese).

Task force updates:

Check back periodically for other updates on events and actions related to the work of the task force.

  • Task force co-chairs: Angie Muhleisen, Ava Thomas
  • Subcommittee co-chairs: Jasmine Kingsley, Cori Sampson Vokoun, Maribel Cruz
  • Task force members: Marco Barker, Matt Bavougian, Wendy Birdsall, Quentin Brown, William Cintani, John Croghan, Shannon Harner, José Lemus, Susan Martin, Dan Marvin, Kim Russel, Nader Sepahpur, and Bud Synhorst

Dine Out Lincoln

Dine Out Lincoln streamlines the permit review process to allow restaurants and other establishments the opportunity to temporarily expand their business footprint into private and public spaces.

For more information, visit lincoln.ne.gov/DineOut.

Buy Local City Policy

Local purchasing can leverage as much as a 1.5 times economic impact. In other words, purchasing locally adds value, because jobs, capitol, and supply purchases all stay right here in Lincoln. This can be done by implementing a micropurchasing policy, encouraging city agencies to “buy local.” See Lincoln’s “buy local” policies: