Nevada governor: More PPE, tests needed to combat COVID-19, state may need stricter social distancing enforcement

Gov. Steve Sisolak said Nevada’s peak of COVID-19 cases could come anywhere from early April to mid-June, saying he was more focused on lessening effects of the pandemic while warning that the state might need to “tighten the faucet” if people don’t heed social-distancing recommendations.

Speaking Monday evening in Las Vegas, Sisolak gave detailed updates on hospitalizations, ventilator and hospital bed capacity as well as the acquisition of personal protective equipment as part of the state’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Monday afternoon, the state had reported 1,953 coronavirus cases and 46 deaths.

But the governor only hinted at and did not detail what “stricter” enforcement measures might entail.

“Well if we get to that later in the week, you’re going to see what stricter enforcement looks like,” he said Monday evening during a news conference.

Sisolak provided an update on the state’s health care capacity, saying that 282 COVID-19 positive patients were currently occupying a hospital bed, with 74 percent of intensive care unit beds occupied, 61 percent of all hospital beds occupied and 44 percent of ventilators currently being used — 372 of the 838 total ventilators.

Sisolak said the state has requested 450 additional ventilators from FEMA and been informed that they would be delivered within 72 hours before “what they’re deeming a surge.”

The governor said hospital staffing levels were at an overall level of “green,” but that PPE supplies were at an overall level of “yellow.”

“This means that while PPE is being used and more is being distributed, we need to continue to progress efforts to obtain and distribute more as the need increases,” he said.

Sisolak said the state has received 3,000 reagent kits and 4,000 testing swabs from the federal government thus far, but has not received any completed testing kits and that state health officials are working to assemble them. He also provided specific details on more than one million PPE items distributed by the state (not yet including private donations) to hospitals:

22,014 gowns
76,295 gloves
84 coveralls
736,860 N95 masks
206,500 surgical masks
23,424 face shields
As various models circle the internet, projecting the peak of cases in various places, Sisolak declined to wade into that debate. The governor said he has seen dates ranging from April 10 to the middle of June, but his primary concern is reducing hospitalizations, intensive care unit stays, ventilator usage and, ultimately, deaths related to COVID-19.

“The statistics are going to bear out as they are, and I’m not going to get into the forecasting business of when we’ll get our peak day or when we’ll be finally through a plateau,” he said.

But he urged Nevadans to continue staying home — not meeting up with relatives for Easter dinner, congregating in skateboard parks or playing basketball with a group. When asked why golf courses are allowed to remain open, he framed it as an outdoor recreation activity where social-distancing requirements can be met.

“They’re meant to be kept six feet apart when they’re playing golf and they’d get some fresh air and get some exercise,” he said. “And that was the motivation behind it — the same as keeping hiking trails open.”

Adjutant General Ondra Berry also provided an update, saying the Nevada National Guard activated 100 soldiers and airmen Monday to support donation management and logistical missions in Northern and Southern Nevada.

Last week, Sisolak announced he was activating the Nevada National Guard to assist with the state’s emergency operations structure, with duties likely including logistical planning, delivery of medical supplies, security at testing sites, assisting with medical screening and disinfecting public spaces.

“It is critical for people to understand this is not martial law,” Berry said. “The Nevada National Guard is comprised of your neighbors helping neighbors. We work here. We live here. We are in the Nevadans helping Nevadans, and that’s what we do best.”

Sisolak also took a question regarding the state’s supply of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug highly touted by President Donald Trump as a potential effective treatment against COVID-19 despite scant scientific evidence.

Sisolak — who earlier issued a directive banning use of the drug for COVID-19 treatment outside of inpatient hospital settings — said he had heard “mixed stories” about its effectiveness and was relying on the advice of medical professionals

“If the situation changes and they give me other advice, I would bring that forward as soon as I get it,” he said. “But to this day, they thus far have not done that.”

The governor also called on community members to wear red ribbons to show their support for frontline health care workers, first-responders and essential employees.

“We need to stay home for them,” he said.

— This story was used with permission of The Nevada Independent. Go here for this and other stories.