Nye County declares emergency after first coronavirus case
Nye County has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday night, the county said it had confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in a Beatty resident.
On Thursday morning, the county issued a news release saying a “declaration of existence of local emergency” was issued by county leaders, including county manager Tim Sutton, County Commission Chair John Koenig, director of Emergency Management Scott Lewis and Sheriff Sharon Wehrly. The declaration reads:
“In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and in an effort to better protect the citizens of Nye County, I am issuing the attached Emergency Declaration,” Sutton said in a statement. “This is being done in an abundance of caution and is similar to the declaration issued during the recent Storm Area 51 event. The Board of County Commissioners is unable to meet at this time due to restrictions on public gatherings but the board will have the opportunity to review and ratify this declaration at a future meeting.
“Several other Nevada counties have taken this precautionary step, which allows for quicker response in times of emergencies. The declaration is also necessary to qualify for state and federal grant funding so we can hopefully offset some of the costs associated with fighting, treating, and containing the virus. Thank you all for your patience during this challenging time, and please know that we are doing all we can to reopen our offices and provide full county services.”
The first Nye County resident to have a confirmed positive test for COVID-19 was described in a county Facebook post as a male patient is in his 60s who lives in Beatty, where he is self-quarantined at home.
“Emergency Services has made contact and is continuing to investigate the source of the infection and retracing his movements for the past few weeks,” the post said.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
