Thread by @GovSisolak

Good evening, thank you for being here tonight for this important COVID-19 update. Tonight, I am grateful that @RenownCEOTonyMD, the president & chief executive officer at Renown Health is here with me to share the burden COVID is having on our communities.

Our country & our state are on a rough course right now. New cases, hospitalizations and – tragically - fatalities are on the rise. The fall spike, predicted by medical & scientific experts, is now our reality. Nevadans need to accept this reality & change behaviors immediately.

I am encouraged by this week’s news about a potential COVID vaccine. It gives me hope and should give you hope. Our Nevada team is closely monitoring these updates and adjusting our vaccine distribution framework so we are ready when the time comes.

But an accessible vaccine isn’t ready today & won’t be ready tomorrow, &, we can’t wait for a vaccine to get this deadly virus back to a manageable level. We don’t have much time to act to avoid a dangerous hospital surge & to keep our economy going & keep people at work.

We are walking a tightrope between maintaining faith services, commerce & rec. activity & protecting lives, frontline workers & healthcare infrastructure. We must act now to keep our economy open & eventually restore other vital parts of our life.

But - and this is very important - in the next two weeks, we MUST see a significant reversal of the current trends, which are deeply concerning.

There were more than 1,300 new cases identified yesterday, and unfortunately, 7 additional deaths. Our 14-day test positivity rate is 13.7 percent. It’s continuing to climb. For the most recent 7-day period, cases are growing at a rate of 1.2%, or 1,326 new cases per day.

The Nevada Hospital Association reports a continued upward trajectory of COVID-19 cases. Monday marked the highest recorded number of hospitalizations since mid-August, effectively erasing the progress made over the past 3 months.

To preserve our economy, we MUST refocus on preventing the spread of COVID-19. We have to go back to the basics, which by now are common knowledge. Wearing masks, maintaining social distance of at least 6 feet & limiting the risk of exposure are the ONLY ways we can keep going.

The only proven way to control the current widespread transmission of COVID is to decrease mobility - that means staying home as much as we possibly can.

As a result, for the next two weeks, Nevadans need to operate in a "Stay at Home 2.0" mentality to get things under control so our public health response infrastructure can catch up. We need that time to bring testing timelines down and catch up on contact tracing.

If you don't have to go out, don't go out. Reduce your time in public to what is necessary & limit any & all exposure to those outside your household.

Think about changes like ordering groceries for delivery instead of going into the store or picking up dinner curbside from your favorite restaurant instead of sitting indoors with others who are NOT members of your household.

Avoid gatherings -- large and small. Our businesses are doing what they can to keep employees and customers safe, but we need those employees and customers to practice all public health measures at home as well.

Do not have people outside of your household over for dinners, parties, or other gatherings at your home. Connect over Zoom or the phone. I know this is an enormous sacrifice for many people, but it is what needs to be done to stop the spread of the virus.

We know from experience that temporarily decreasing our activity in the community can significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the burden on our healthcare system.

When we first implemented stay-at-home orders, much of Nevada was closed, including many of our key industries. This action was taken to avoid overwhelming our healthcare facilities and to reduce COVID-related fatalities.

While the stay-at-home measures worked to “flatten the curve,” they also led to detrimental economic and social impacts that will take time to recover from. In the spring we did not have the experience or data to guide our decisions & had to rely on models & projections.

We know more now. We believe that we can safely reduce the spread of COVID in our communities without requiring closing of sectors of our economy. To do this, we are asking each Nevadan to do your part in slowing the spread of COVID and protecting our most vulnerable.

I know you’ve heard me say all of this before, but I am asking you, on behalf of our healthcare workers, our EMTs, and everyone on the frontlines who is seeing this alarming trend in the wrong direction - please do your part.

If we can take action now, we can keep our businesses open, reduce the spread of COVID, save lives and keep our healthcare system from being overwhelmed. As government officials, we can only adopt and enforce restrictions in businesses and public spaces.

What you do at home, in your own backyard or your neighborhood, is almost more important. Please don’t let your guard down at home.

For all employers & office spaces: Telework as much as possible -- if employees can do their jobs from home, do so. If employees have to be in the workspace, they need to be masked up at all times & meetings should be done virtually from individual offices instead shared spaces.

For commercial & gov't employers: This is not the time to have crowded meetings & events, like birthday or retirement parties. Masks must be worn by EVERYONE in meetings for the entire duration. Keep the number of people in meetings to a minimum, & keep meetings short.

I will be directing all state employees to adhere to these common sense practices and encouraging all local governments to follow. To the private sector: follow our lead and help protect your businesses and employees.

Faith leaders & places of worship... please review & remind the faithful of safety protocols. We’ve witnessed in other places significant spread from weddings & other gatherings. From synagogues to mosques, to churches & chapels, take all measures so we can continue worship.

Local Govt's: I know the majority of our businesses are doing a great job, but for those that aren't, you're threatening NV's economy in this moment. That's why I'm asking local governments to step up enforcement over the next two weeks to ensure businesses are doing their part.

For the next two weeks, we must mimic our Stay at Home behaviors from the Spring. If we do so, we believe we can begin to turn things around in two weeks without having to place increased restrictions on our businesses or schools. We do not want to do that.

If we don't turn things around, cases will continue to grow, hospitalizations will increase & ultimately overwhelm our hospitals, medical staff & first responders will continue to have increased risk of exposure -- resulting in staff shortages. We can avoid that scenario.

We can avoid that nightmare scenario. But we have two weeks to do it and it will take every one of us. Again, if we don't come together at this moment, I will be forced to take stronger action in 14 days. To be clear, I don't want to.

I want to stay on the path to get all Nevada children back in the classroom, opening conventions to 50% by January 1, and lifting more restrictions. That's the path I've laid out for Nevada. Now we need to decide if we remain on it.

Some will ask why not limit retail, our casino-resorts, our restaurants right now. That’s the tightrope I was referring to.

I want to make every effort - I want us - to make every effort to keep people on their jobs and to keep our economy moving forward. Additionally, those businesses are under constant scrutiny from OSHA, local authorities, gaming regulators and others.

Additionally, I have been asking the various businesses and their associations to step up their in-house and back of house communications with their employees, asking them to follow our protocols in the workplace and the community.

Yes, there may be a perception of a double standard here, but, managing through this pandemic protecting your jobs and your health is a daily challenge. And the only way we can get to the other side is for all of us to fight this horrible virus together.

Properly wear masks in any public setting indoors & outside. That means covering your nose AND your mouth. Avoid parties or crowded events. Maintain distance of AT LEAST 6 feet & limit close contact, even if you’re wearing a mask. Wash your hands often.

STAY HOME if you have any flu-like symptoms. Promptly get tested, isolate until you get the results. Activate the COVID Trace App.