RENO, Nev. (AP) - Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a travel advisory Tuesday urging self-quarantines for visitors and residents returning to Nevada as the state’s coronavirus death toll reached 26, nearly double what it was three days ago.
Statewide deaths - 23 in the Las Vegas area and three in Washoe County including Reno-Sparks - have quadrupled the past week. Cases have more than tripled from about 300 a week ago to more than 1,100.
Sisolak’s new advisory urges visitors and Nevadans returning from travel to self-quarantine for 14 days to help contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. With some exceptions, he said they should not visit public places or come into contact with anyone outside their household unit.
“Nevada has always been a welcoming place for travelers, but now is not the time for tourists to flock to public spaces,” Sisolak said. “We need everyone - Nevadans and travelers - to take preventive measures to help flatten the curve and protect the most vulnerable among us.”
The advisory doesn’t apply to healthcare, public health, public safety, transportation and food supply essential employees, he said.
The eight new deaths confirmed from Monday to Tuesday are twice as many as the previous single-day increase, when four each were reported March 26 and March 28. Deaths attributed to the virus in Nevada totaled six statewide on March 25, and 14 on March 28.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
In other developments:
- Washoe County reported its first positive case of the virus among the homeless in Reno. The individual who was discharged from a hospital on Monday and placed in quarantine housing had spent at least a night at the temporary shelter set up at Reno’s Downtown Events Center and used services at another nearby shelter, a county spokesman said.
- Health officials in Las Vegas approved $3 million to build a 40-bed temporary hospital next to the Southern Nevada Health District office to isolate and treat non-critical COVID-19 patients. District board members said Tuesday they’re looking for additional sites. They hope the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse 75% of the cost of the pop-up building.
- Las Vegas casino companies are donating food for the homeless and medical gear to fight the pandemic. Las Vegas Sands Corp. is giving 1 million surgical masks each to Nevada and New York, and 20,000 protective suits to hospitals and first responders in Nevada. Sands previously gave 100,000 masks to Las Vegas health officials, 5,000 masks to metro police and 1,900 coronavirus test kits to the state. Wynn Las Vegas promised 1,000 daily boxed meals to Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada
- The Burning Man festival has postponed ticket sales for this summer’s counterculture festival in the northern Nevada desert. Sales were scheduled to begin April 8 for the event currently scheduled to run Aug. 30 to Sept. 7. It gathering typically attracts about 80,000 people.
- A judge in Carson City postponed the retrial of a man convicted of a 1995 shotgun slaying until Sept. 15. Jury selection was scheduled to begin May 5 for Peter Elvik, who served more than 20 years in prison for the death of William Gibson, 63. He he was paroled in 2016 shortly before a U.S. appeals court ruled his rights were violated.
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Ritter reported from Las Vegas
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