LINCOLN, Neb. (KMTV) — During a press conference Monday, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said the NCAA made a mistake in not allowing North Carolina State to play in the College World Series due to multiple players testing positive for COVID-19.
Governor Ricketts says NCAA made a mistake in telling NC State they couldn't play in College World Series.
— Jennifer Griswold (@griswoldkmtv) June 28, 2021
Saturday’s scheduled game between NC State and Vanderbilt was ruled a no-contest.
The governor said that the COVID-related health risks are low for young people adding, "Those players are very low risk. Is the NCAA now going to tell them that they can't drive? They can't get in cars? And they're playing a game outside, which means that they are not likely to spread to anybody else. And the point of the vaccine is that yes, it protects you. It helps generate those immune responses to the coronavirus if you get exposed to it, but does that mean if you've got any sort of virus we can't let you go anywhere? No, that's ridiculous. We don't do that for anything else."
In a news release on Saturday, The Douglas County Health Department said, "The decision to remove North Carolina State from the Men’s College World Series was made by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee and the NCAA Medical Team due to ongoing COVID-19 transmission among teammates."
Gov. Ricketts also announced the end date of the COVID-19 emergency order in the state.
Gov. Ricketts says he will allow the state's state of emergency to expire on June 30th at 11:59 p.m. It went into effect on March 13, 2020.
— Jennifer Griswold (@griswoldkmtv) June 28, 2021
The emergency order is set to expire on June 30 at 11:59 p.m. It’s been in effect since March 13, 2020.
Additionally, the TestNebraska contract will expire on July 31. The final day to get a test through TestNebraska is July 18.
Gov. Ricketts said 772,000 Nebraskans have been tested through the program. He added that there are plenty of other places to get a COVID-19 test.
He added that there are currently 27 hospitalizations in the state related to COVID-19.
Additionally, he urged people to continue getting vaccinated, saying “it’s time for people to get back to normal.”
Gov. Ricketts said his expectation for schools this fall is to have no masks, no vaccine requirements and all students back in classrooms.
Watch below or on our Facebook page.
Download our apps today for all of our latest coverage.
Get the latest news and weather delivered straight to your inbox.
