covid-19 pandemic in nevada covid-19 pandemic in nevada the covid-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the u.s. state of nevada on march 5, 2020. because of concerns about coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19), nevada governor steve sisolak declared a state of emergency on march 12, 2020. four days later, nevada reported its first death. on march 17, 2020, sisolak ordered the closure of non-essential businesses in the state, to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. grocery stores were among the businesses considered essential, and restaurants were allowed to provide drive-thru, takeout, and delivery services. at the end of march 2020, sisolak announced a 90-day moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for commercial and residential tenants. the moratorium would be extended several times over the next year. covid-19 pandemic in nevadamap of the outbreak in nevada by confirmed new infections per 100,000 people over 14 days (last updated march 2021) 1,000+ 500–1,000 200–500 100–200 50–100 20–50 10–20 0–10 no confirmed new cases or no/bad datamap of the outbreak in nevada by confirmed total infections per 100,000 people (last updated march 2021) 10,000+ 3,000–10,000 1,000–3,000 300–1,000 100–300 30–100 0–30 no confirmed infected or no datadiseasecovid-19virus strainsars-cov-2locationnevada, u.s.index caselas vegas, nevada, u.s.arrival datemarch 5, 2020 (2020-03-05)confirmed cases887,008hospitalized cases97 (confirmed, current)18 (suspected, current)critical cases19 (current)ventilator cases9 (current)deaths12,008vaccinations1,803,904government websitedpbh.nv.gov/coronavirus/ various protests were held against sisolak's shutdown order beginning in april 2020. las vegas mayor carolyn goodman was also critical of the shutdown and its length, urging sisolak to reopen the state. goodman was widely criticized after suggesting that las vegas become a control group to test the effectiveness of social distancing. nevada launched the first phase of its reopening on may 9, 2020. restaurants, retailers, outdoor malls, and hair salons were among the businesses allowed to reopen, but with precautions in place, such as limiting occupancy to 50 percent. a second phase went into effect on may 29, 2020. it allowed for the reopening of state parks and businesses such as bars, gyms, and movie theaters. casinos began reopening on june 4, 2020. covid-19 cases increased following the reopenings, and facial masks were mandated for residents at the end of june 2020. bars in certain counties were closed the following month to help stop the rise in cases, and they gradually reopened over the next few months. in september 2020, sisolak announced that live shows and conventions could resume with reduced attendance. cases began to rise again in october 2020, following a decline in the months prior. covid-19 vaccinations began at the end of 2020, and sisolak reduced capacity for gatherings and various businesses to help stop the surge in cases. his latest measures were gradually eased starting in february 2021. control over covid-19 restrictions was transferred from the state to individual counties on may 1, 2021, and the mask mandate was briefly eased later that month for fully vaccinated residents. cases and hospitalizations increased during mid-2021, due to vaccine hesitancy and the emergence of the sars-cov-2 delta variant, which was more transmissible. the sars-cov-2 omicron variant resulted in another surge beginning in december 2021. it subsided within a few months, and sisolak ended the mask mandate in february 2022, amid a decrease in cases and hospitalizations. the majority of cases and deaths have occurred in clark county, which includes the las vegas valley. washoe county, which includes the reno-sparks area, is the second most-impacted county. as of september 7, 2022, there have been 835,618 cases and 11,417 deaths reported in nevada, and the state has fully vaccinated 1,782,408 residents. timeline main article: timeline of the covid-19 pandemic in nevada on march 5, 2020, nevada reported its first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19), in a resident from las vegas. nevada governor steve sisolak declared a state of emergency one week later, because of concerns about the covid-19 pandemic. he also formed a medical advisory team. nevada reported its first covid-19 death on march 16, 2020. a day later, sisolak ordered non-essential businesses in the state to close for 30 days, to prevent the spread of the virus. casinos were among businesses ordered to shut down. las vegas mayor carolyn goodman opposed the length of his shutdown order, and would become a critic of his actions during the pandemic, urging him to reopen the state. national guard soldiers setting up emergency tents in las vegas (april 2020) the business closures went into effect on march 18, 2020, and were later extended. grocery stores, hardware stores, pharmacies, banks, and gas stations were among businesses considered essential. police, fire, and healthcare services continued operations as well, along with construction sites. in april 2020, sisolak activated the nevada national guard to aid the state during the pandemic. some nevada residents held protests in opposition to his shutdown orders. meanwhile, goodman was heavily criticized for suggesting that las vegas become a control group to test the effectiveness of social distancing. phase one of the state's reopening began on may 9, 2020. it included restaurants and retailers, which could operate with precautions in place, such as 50-percent occupancy. phase two went into effect on may 29, 2020. it included the reopening of bars, bowling alleys, gyms, movie theaters, pools, spas, state parks, and tattoo shops. sisolak also increased public gathering limits to 50 people, up from an earlier limit of 10. casinos were allowed to reopen on june 4, 2020. increased covid-19 testing and the reopening of businesses contributed to a rise in cases later that month. sisolak postponed plans for a phase three of reopening, and he instituted a face mask mandate at the end of the month. covid-19 cases declined during august and september 2020, but saw a resurgence beginning in october. sisolak announced new restrictions in november 2020, amid a steep rise in cases. certain businesses – including casinos, restaurants, bars, and gyms – had their operating capacity reduced to 25 percent. the limits on public and private gatherings were also reduced. covid-19 vaccinations began in the state in december 2020, as nevada saw record-high hospitalizations and one of the highest positivity rates in the u.s. cases and hospitalizations began to decline in january 2021, and sisolak gradually scaled back his newest restrictions over the next two months. control over pandemic restrictions was transferred from the state to local counties on may 1, 2021. with the exception of the mask mandate, clark county ended all other restrictions on june 1, 2021. cases and hospitalizations increased again in mid-2021, due to vaccine hesitancy and the emergence of the sars-cov-2 delta variant, which was more transmissible. another surge in cases began in december 2021, after the sars-cov-2 omicron variant was detected in the state. by february 2022, cases and hospitalizations had begun to decrease again, prompting an end to the mask mandate. after more than two years, sisolak declared an end to the state of emergency in may 2022. epidemiology and medical response in early 2020, the state began preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak. on march 22, 2020, sisolak named jim murren to lead the state's covid-19 response, relief & recovery task force. in clark county, the southern nevada water authority began monitoring sewage water in march 2020, to detect the virus and help predict areas where it could break out. in june 2020, clark county reported the state's first case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (mis-c), a disease that is caused by covid-19. in august 2020, nevada reported a case of covid-19 reinfection in a 25-year-old man from reno, who had tested positive for the virus twice, in april and june 2020. he was the first confirmed person in the u.s., and one of five worldwide, to become reinfected. as of april 2022, the state had more than 22,000 reported reinfections, out of approximately 700,000 cases. as of june 2022, reinfections accounted for approximately 14 percent of all cases in nevada. in january 2021, las vegas became the third u.s. city with a federally supported clinic offering bamlanivimab, a covid-19 treatment. a european strain of covid-19 initially made up the majority of cases in nevada. statewide, the sars-cov-2 delta variant became the dominant strain of covid-19 in mid-2021. testing nevada began covid-19 testing on possible patients on january 29, 2020. the first positive case was reported five weeks later. in las vegas, unlv medicine opened a drive-thru testing site on march 23, 2020. the facility saw high demand from residents seeking a test. in april 2020, sisolak said the state had received 3,000 reagent kits and 4,000 test swabs from the federal government. although he appreciated the testing items, he said they "are not nearly the volume necessary for us to perform the desired amount of testing that we want and our citizens want." later that month, unlv medicine announced plans to work with the national guard to expand its testing operation. more than 3,000 residents of southern nevada had been tested up to that time. university medical center (umc) in las vegas also announced plans to substantially increase its testing efforts. at the end of the month, plans were being finalized to start widespread testing in southern nevada. in may 2020, the nevada department of corrections reported that there had yet to be any cases among inmates. however, these results were considered questionable, as only 56 inmates had been tested out of nearly 12,500. within a month, prison testing had increased to 54 percent of all state inmates. in addition, 825 prison employees had also been tested. seven inmates and 30 employees had tested positive up to that time, with no deaths resulting from the virus. during the pandemic-related closure of casinos, the parking garages of several resorts were utilized as drive-thru testing sites. among these was the orleans hotel-casino in the las vegas valley. it was the first testing site there to offer tests regardless of whether or not people had any symptoms. the testing site was a joint effort between clark county, the nevada national guard, and umc. the orleans site tested 14,000 people during its three-week run in may 2020, before relocating to a parking garage at university of nevada, las vegas (unlv), where walk-up visits and child testing were allowed. in may 2020, drive-thru testing sites opened at wal-mart stores across nevada, part of the effort to add more testing sites across the state. such sites continued to increase as more test kits became available, and cases of coronavirus were expected to rise as more sites opened. umc began testing casino employees at the las vegas convention center, ahead of the casino re-openings. the convention center was capable of testing up to 4,000 people a day. at the end of may 2020, umc began testing all of its patients for covid-19, becoming the first hospital in nevada to do so. umc had the ability to perform 10,000 tests per day, the highest in the state. in august 2020, an epidemiologist for the state's covid-19 task force noted a seven-percent decrease in the number of tests being performed, compared to a month earlier. possible explanations included decreased transmission of the virus, and people becoming frustrated with the testing process due to delays in getting appointments and test results. at the end of the month, clark county launched a temporary covid-19 testing campaign, which aimed to test 60,000 people over several weeks at drive-thru test sites. the county sent out an emergency alert to mobile computers, urging residents to participate in the testing campaign. as of september 2020, umc had processed 320,000 covid-19 tests, approximately one-third of all tests performed in the state. in late 2021, chicago-based northshore clinical labs was hired to provide testing for young athletes in washoe county. however, an investigation found the tests to be defective, missing 96 percent of positive cases. in january 2022, sisolak announced that the state had purchased nearly 600,000 at-home tests which would be distributed to residents, in an effort to meet high demand for testing. mask policy