Update Sept. 14, 2021: As of September 12, 2021 Nevada Health Response noted that White Pine County went from “high” transmission rate to a “substantial” transmission rate, while Lincoln County went from “substantial” to a “high” transmission rate. To review the state’s recent mask guide update click here.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Every Nevada county will be under a mask mandate Friday as each is listed as places of high or substantial COVID-19 transmission, according to CDC guidance.
In May, Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak implemented a policy where Nevada would follow CDC masking guidance. Masking guidance continues to be in the governor’s control.
In late July, the CDC made the decision to advise masking indoors for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated in counties with high or substantial transmission.
Every Nevada county is now labeled an area of high transmission except for Lincoln County, which the CDC lists as having substantial transmission.
State officials reported 33 new deaths and more than 1,400 new COVID-19 cases in data released Wednesday. The state’s test positivity rate crept up to 12.3%.
With 1,446 new cases, the statewide numbers tell a different story than Clark County’s data. Cases in the county were at 513 with 25 deaths, and test positivity fell slightly. Only 35% of Nevada’s new COVID-19 cases came from Clark County.
Almost all of Nevada is labeled as a “high transmission” area, and it is now one of 46 listed as high transmission states. The CDC is using cases per 100,000 over the past seven days to determine high transmission.
Last week, Sisolak signed an emergency directive to expand the mask exception for large indoor events to include conventions within counties that have “substantial” or “high” COVID-19 transmission if all attendees are vaccinated.
The directive says convention operators can admit attendees who are only partially vaccinated, receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination. However, those attendees must continue to wear a mask during the event.
Sisolak said convention operators must implement a system of distinguishing attendees who are fully vaccinated from those who are only partially vaccinated or who, due to age, are ineligible to receive a vaccine, and must enforce the mask requirement for all attendees who are not fully vaccinated during the event.
