Sisolak officially ends COVID emergency

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that Nevada’s state of emergency for COVID-19, which has been in place for more than two years dating to the early days of the pandemic, will officially end at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

The governor on Thursday signed a new proclamation that will formally end the emergency — a move he announced he would make two weeks ago — with the proclamation citing declines in cases and hospitalizations in recent months.

“Today, we are turning the page on the State of Emergency caused by COVID-19 and are laser focused on ensuring our recovery from the public health, fiscal and economy crisis serves the needs of Nevada’s families,” Sisolak said in a statement.

“I am proud of the way we came together as the Battle Born State to respond to this virus and to protect lives and livelihoods. COVID-19 is still with us, and we can all still take steps to protect ourselves from the virus, but now is the time to end this State of Emergency,” he added.

The governor declared the emergency on March 12, 2020 in response to the pandemic when the state had detected just 11 total positive cases of COVID-19. That order granted the governor the authority to take extraordinary measures to combat the virus, from closing businesses to easing licensing requirements for some health care workers.

The governor’s office also put out new guidance for healthcare professionals to help them navigate the end of the declaration.

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.

State of Nevada end of emergency guidance sheet by Colton Lochhead on Scribd