Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is playing hardball to stop city and county governments from making wearing masks in public mandatory.<br />According to Business Insider, Gov. Ricketts threatened to withhold $100 million in federal relief funds if they did so.<br />Wearing a mask is a measure widely encouraged by public health officials to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.<br />Local officials say they have little choice but to comply with the governor's order.<br />The order comes as over a dozen states battle a surge of coronavirus infections, many of which had moved to reopen businesses in recent weeks.<br />In Nebraska, there have been at least 17,226 recorded coronavirus infections, and is still reporting over 100 infections each day.<br />The United States has so far seen over 120,000 people die from the illness.
