Omaha firefighters and police officers are now required to wear surgical masks while indoors and on patrol in accordance with a mandate put in place Wednesday. Citing the rising number of personnel testing positive for COVID-19, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Omaha Fire Chief Dan Olsen enacted the requirement. “Currently, the Omaha Police Department has 35 employees off work due to testing positive for COVID. The Omaha Fire Department has 39 off due to testing positive for COVID. Most employees are vaccinated and have mild symptoms; however, a few unvaccinated employees have recently been hospitalized. This is consistent with the COVID surge Douglas County as a whole is experiencing due to the Omicron variant.”