Nevada counties see record COVID cases, but can’t agree on next steps

Gov. Steve Sisolak should limit gatherings statewide to no more than 10 people to slow COVID-19’s winter surge, Washoe County health officer Kevin Dick officially recommended Thursday during the state’s virus task force meeting.

Clark County had no recommendations for the governor, while leaders from rural counties wanted stronger messaging on the cost of people shirking COVID-19 precautions.

The task force meeting reflected a bleak reality. As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise statewide, there seems to be little consensus among Nevada officials on what is the best course of action.

“If we can really kind of rally behind what the purpose is of what we’re trying to do and what the goal is, I think it could help,” said Elko County Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi, who supported stronger messaging. “Because when people don’t know where they’re going, I think it leaves them a little more hopeless.”

Nevada reported another record number of new coronavirus cases on Thursday, and for the second time in a week eclipsed 2,000 new cases in a single day. More than one-third of the state’s 127,000 cases have been identified since October.

The surge led Sisolak to announce a voluntary “Stay at Home 2.0” initiative on Nov. 10. The governor did not impose new restrictions, but he told Nevadans to limit their movement as much as possible for two weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19. On Wednesday, Sisolak said he would announce new measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the state “very soon.” He offered no further details on what those measures could be.

At the task force meeting, Nevada COVID-19 response director Caleb Cage asked county leaders across the state for their recommendations on what action the governor should take.

The strictest recommendation came from Washoe County, which has bore the brunt of Nevada’s winter surge. Hospitalizations have increased dramatically in recent weeks, forcing Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno to convert its parking garage a medical unit for COVID-19 patients.

Dick said his suggestion to limit all gatherings to no more than 10 people was supported by a recent international study published in The Lancet medical journal, which found that bans on public events were associated with the highest reduction in the spread of COVID-19.

“It’s an evidence-based, science-based approach to looking at what could be an effective action to take,” he said. “I think it’s important to look at where we could get the biggest result and benefit from the actions that we take.”

Like Dick, Washoe County Manager Eric Brown said he believed relying on enhanced enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions at businesses would not be enough to curb disease spread. He described being told of large private gatherings in his county, including a Halloween house party attended by more than 150 people.

“Those are the kind of behaviors that go beyond our enforcement measures at the bars, restaurants and retail establishments,” he said.

But the move, which would return to Nevada to restrictions not seen since May, garnered little support from leaders in other counties.

Southern Nevada Health District official Misty Robinson said her agency recommended that event planners voluntarily not hold events large than 50 people for at least two weeks. However, the health district did not recommend that Sisolak lower the state’s current cap of 250 people.

Lyon County manager Jeff Page said he strongly opposed Sisolak taking executive action to further limit gatherings or shut down any businesses. He said COVID-19 had become so politicized in his county that a statewide order would only serve to create “more panic and anger in our community.”

Instead, Page advocated for better refining government messaging about the consequences of COVID-19 spread.

“The message has to be very clear, we’re doing this to reduce the threat to our hospitals and health care system,” he said.

Fifteen Republican lawmakers in the Nevada Assembly penned a letter to Sisolak on Wednesday, urging the governor to not shut down the state’s economy again.

“The first round of blanket restrictions in the spring had a devastating impact on Nevada’s infrastructure, and this continues to be felt to this day,” the letter stated.

Nov. 18 letter to Governor ... by Las Vegas Review-Journal

In each county, the state is tracking the average number of tests processed per day, what percentage of those tests are positive and the rate of COVID-19 cases based on the county’s population. Counties are required to share mitigation plans with the task force if flagged for transmission risk.

As of Thursday, 13 of Nevada’s 16 counties were at risk for elevated disease transmission.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.