Good evening! Tonight, I am pleased to present to Nevadans our State-specific plan for reopening, Nevada United: Roadmap to Recovery. A copy of the full plan can be found online at NVHealthResponse.nv.gov.
This plan is designed to build a path forward and safely restart Nevada’s economy. As the Governor of this great State, a former locally elected official, and most importantly, as a father and husband, I share our collective goal of seeing our communities get back to business.
We have taken great steps together as a state to keep Nevadans safe against COVID-19, and while we continue to do that, we must now chart a responsible path forward that will get Nevadans back to work under a “new normal.”
The core guiding principle is that our efforts should be “Federally supported, state managed, & locally executed.” I am confident that if leaders & stakeholders in Nevada work together to accomplish our shared goals, anything is possible, even in the most trying of times.
When I became your Governor, I promised to put Nevada’s families first. It breaks my heart to see Nevada families suffering because of COVID-19. But this roadmap helps put the State, and our families, back on track.
We are Battle Born, and right now we are being tested in this battle against COVID-19. Together, we will be Nevada United and Battle Proven.
The reality is this: no single elected official, business, government entity, or individual Nevadan can accomplish this task alone. All of us have a role to play when it comes to ensuring the Silver State recovers and comes back stronger than ever.
First, the timeline for a strong recovery will be determined by the virus and the behaviors of Nevadans. The reopening of Nevada will happen the same way the State was closed down – in phases and following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and medical experts.
Secondly, we must all work to ensure our response efforts encompass access for all at-risk populations, including older individuals, lower income Nevadans, tribal communities, racial and ethnic minorities, and our Veterans.
Finally, the State’s management of the recovery & reopening process must remain flexible at all times, with ongoing monitoring of local & statewide data reporting and analysis.
I know how most Nevadans are feeling right now. The fog feels like it’s clearing away and many of you are probably asking why you’re sitting at home...why are schools closed? Why can’t you grab a beer with your buddies or go to a game with your family? I get it.
Because we’ve done a good job, the threat of COVID-19 feels distant & abstract – to many, it might not feel as scary anymore. But I have the unfortunate responsibility to remind all of us that the threat remains real. After all, there is no vaccine for COVID-19 at this time.
The only reason the number of confirmed cases and deaths is not significantly higher in Nevada is due to the implementation of strong social distancing measures -- which is why the criteria for reopening I announced last week are so critical to our future success.
First, we are looking at a consistent & sustainable downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases & a decrease in the trend of COVID-19 hospitalizations over a 14-day period. Hospitalizations are following an overall decrease, but there were recently 3 days w/ consecutive increases.
Second, we want to ensure our healthcare system is able to handle potential new surges in patients, along with non-COVID-19 related services. The hospital system is continuing to indicate surge capacity for all-cause or COVID-19 patient influxes. This is a good sign.
Third, we want to have the expanded ability for healthcare providers to administer tests for symptomatic patients and sufficient laboratory testing capacity to process COVID-19 testing samples.
This is where we have some good news: Nevada now has the capacity to test symptomatic individuals at this time, under the testing guidelines issued by the State.
We know long term we will need more. We will be building our capacity to test asymptomatic Nevadans as well, which is one of the primary goals of our response efforts.
Fourth, we need sufficient public health workforce capacity in health departments to conduct case contact tracing. These efforts continue to ramp up to scale. We feel very positive & are exploring many ways to expand this workforce & be ready for Phase 1.
Finally, we need the sustained ability to protect vulnerable populations; outbreaks minimized in special settings like health facilities and nursing homes. This is a highly qualitative criteria, and one we take seriously.
We must have the ability to manage outbreaks in our facilities – because we know they will occur. The State will continue to work with health authorities to identify and contain outbreaks in facilities.
This tells me the following: we’re doing good, but we still have some work to do to meet this criteria before reopening. I’m confident we can get there together and do it on our timeline.
