NE Hospitals Ask For More Federal Aid As State Covid Total Approaches 36,000

There are now nearly 36-thousand COVID-19 cases in Nebraska.  Officials reported 89 new cases yesterday bringing the total in the state to 35-thousand-975.  COVID-19 has claimed 404 lives in Nebraska during the pandemic. Nebraska hospitals are asking for more federal aid to help recover financially from the coronavirus. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Nebraska Hospital Association officials say the pandemic has meant increased costs and a decline in revenue for hospitals. The revenue drop is partly because Nebraska temporarily banned elective procedures to save hospital resources when the virus first hit the state. Nebraska hospitals have already gotten some federal aid. But Andy Hale of the hospital association says it's not enough. A University of Nebraska Medical Center study found that more than half of Nebraska hospitals were distressed before the pandemic hit.