Nevada governor: Schools to stay closed through school year

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Tuesday he’s extending the closure of schools until the end of the school year and is not close to relaxing restrictions aimed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The Democratic governor and state experts said Tuesday that Nevada would take a gradual approach to easing business closures and stay-at-home rules, without giving any expected date for how soon that might occur. Sisolak also said it was too soon to say whether schools would remain closed for the start of the new school year in the fall.

Nevada has had fewer cases and deaths than statistical models originally predicted, and they appear to be reaching a plateau. The number of people hospitalized with the disease has started to fall, Sisolak and officials said at a news conference in Carson City.

But the state still needs to see at least a two-week trend of drops in the number of hospitalizations and people testing positive for the disease before the state could start to inch open some restrictions.

“Even though the models look good for Nevada right now, we are not out of the woods yet,” Sisolak said.

After that point, Nevada could begin easing some rules, though the governor said his team of medical advisors and economic experts are still reviewing many specifics of what that would look like.

People considered higher risk for complications, like those with underlying health conditions or older adults, would still need to shelter in place. Other people would need to avoid socializing in groups of more than 10 to maintain social distance and a travel advisory encouraging people to minimize nonessential travel would remain.

People would still be asked to use face coverings in public, and bars would remain closed. Sisolak said members of his team are still working to determine if restaurants, churches and gyms would be able to open and whether sporting events and elective surgeries can take place again.

Sisolak said even if his team decides there’s a way for places like restaurants and gyms to reopen while maintaining social distancing, those business owners might decide it’s not worth it financially to operate with a fraction of their normal customers.

He didn’t address when the state’s famous casinos would reopen, though he said the state gaming control board would need to approve plans for reopening any properties. The governor also said his office is still working to hammer out details for what the next stages of reopening would look like.

Nevada has not joined a coalition of western governors in Washington, Oregon and California who have decided to co-ordinate their plans for a gradual reopening. The governor on Tuesday did not answer questions about why and whether he would seek to join, instead saying that he’s communicating with the other governors and approves of their plans.

In other developments:

— The owner of a strip club that operates in Las Vegas has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Small Business Administration after not receiving money from the $2 trillion federal coronavirus aid bill. Little Darlings owner Jason Mohney says he has struggled obtaining emergency funding after Congress grouped the business into the category of operations of a prurient sexual nature. Mohney argues the exclusion is discriminatory toward a class of workers who perform a legal and legitimate service. The Flint, Michigan-based company operates 200 exotic dance clubs in several states.

— Dr. Fermin Leguen, acting regional chief health officer in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, said that Clark County has seen a recent plateau of COVID-19 cases but cautioned there has not yet been a consistent declined in deaths or cases, and that social distancing and practices like wearing masks in public are still important.

University Medical Center CEO Mason VanHouweling said at the same news conference that the hospital’s lab is working to rapidly increase the amount of tests it can process. It can currently process 500 tests daily but it expects to be able to process 10,000 a day by June 1. The lab will also have anti-body testing for the virus on May 30, but health officials are still working to determine who will get those tests and when and where they will occur.

The Associated Press