LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature suspended its session on Monday to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Legislators were off Monday but had been set to reconvene Tuesday. The session has now been postponed and it's not clear when lawmakers will return to the Capitol.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer said legislative leaders made the decision to protect lawmakers as well as the public.

“We have concluded that suspending the session is in the best interest of the state,” Scheer said in a memo to lawmakers.

Sen. Adam Morfeld, of Lincoln, said roughly two-thirds of the Legislature's 49 senators are old enough to be in the high-risk category if they were to catch the virus.

“We will continue to work on solutions,” he said.

Lawmakers have yet to pass a state budget, as they typically do every year. They also haven't agreed on legislation to lower property taxes, which many of them identified as their top priority. Scheer said lawmakers could be briefly called back into session as early as next Monday to pass emergency funding to help fight the virus.

The Legislature's decision came as the number of coronavirus cases in Nebraska climbed to 20. Douglas County health officials announced two new cases Monday to bring the number of cases in the county to 18. One of those cases is travel-related and the other sickened person had had contact with an earlier local case.

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said the city was imposing a 50-person limit Monday on all gatherings.

On Sunday, Susie Buffett, the daughter of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, told the Omaha World-Herald that she was exposed to the virus and had isolated herself at her Omaha home for two weeks. She said she feels fine and doesn't think she had contracted COVID-19, which is caused by the virus that originated in China. She also said she hadn't been around her father since her exposure last week.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

According to the World Health Organization, people with mild cases recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe ones can take three to six weeks to get better.

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