Public Health

CARSON CITY — Unemployment insurance filers will continue to be afforded the work search waiver until further notice, Gov. Steve Sisolak and the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation announced Tuesday. The move aligns with current guidance from the Department of Labor.

To continue to assist in keeping our community healthy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, Epic Rides, the consolidated municipality of Carson City and Visit Carson City have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Carson City Off-Road, originally scheduled for June 26-28.

CARSON CITY — Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of fiscal emergency on Monday arising from the strain the COVID-19 pandemic has put on public services in the State of Nevada.

The global economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting commerce and negatively impacting revenues across the country, in other states, and in Nevada.

The weather is warming up quickly across Nevada, making it a perfect time to enjoy the outdoors. Fitness experts recognize how beneficial physical activity is to mental health, especially in light of the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting outdoors is a great way to get active, synthesize vitamin D with controlled sun exposure, improve memory and concentration and promote a general sense of well being.

Carson High School's Future Business Leaders of America claim five State Championships as well as 40 top 10 awards in spite of pandemic. CHS FBLA students just finished competing in the Nevada State Business Leadership Conference. Originally, the event was scheduled to be held in Reno, but had to be held digitally due to Covid-19.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has announced a phased approach to boating that discourages out-of-area visitation as part of state and local coordination on recreation guidelines for Lake Tahoe this season.

The Carson City School District is pleased to announce Carson High School’s graduation ceremony plan for the Class of 2020.

Carson High School will hold a drive-through ceremony Saturday, June 6, with varying times throughout the day where graduating seniors and their families will stay in their single vehicle until it's time for the graduate to exit their car, have their name announced on the loudspeaker as they walk across a stage erected on the northwest lawn (near the blue and white concrete ‘CHS’ sign), collect their diploma, have their picture taken, return to their vehicle and then proceed to the exit.

Silver State Industries, the industrial arm of the Nevada Department of Corrections, has launched a manufacturing program to produce medical gowns and masks to help protect Nevadans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The #LocalFoodLove challenge, a campaign sponsored by locally-owned construction company Q&D Construction, is recognizing a successful effort to support a variety of local restaurants across northern Nevada during the coronavirus pandemic.

The next Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting will take place Thursday May 7 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Sierra Room of the Community Center located at 851 E. William Street.

RENO — A more complete understanding of the role antibody tests can play in Nevada’s fight against COVID-19 is taking shape. Scientists at the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory will soon begin to gather critical data needed before the tests are made widely available for clinical use.

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced an “active transition” in the next 15 days toward reopening a moribund economy, giving the clearest guidelines yet as to how the shuttered state will take steps to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak will hold a news conference at 5 p.m. Thursday to outline the Silver State's "Roadmap to Recovery" strategy to open business while maintaining COVID-19 medical and safety measures.
The press conference can be viewed here.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration announced Thursday a $3.7 million grant award to the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization in Carson City as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed by President Donald Trump on March 27.

On Thursday morning, the Douglas County Commissioners, along with a loud procession of supporters, travelled to Carson City to deliver, in unison, a letter asking the state to allow Douglas County to reopen.

The Quad-County Multiagency Coordination Group, Incident Management Team and Carson City Health and Human Services will be conducting asymptomatic community based COVID-19 testing for people without symptoms in each of our counties. Testing is limited and will be by appointment only.

The Quad-County Incident Management Team, comprised of representatives from Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey counties, and the Quad-County Multiagency Coordination Group continues to coordinate closely with and support Carson City Health and Human Services in the Quad-County COVID-19 Response.

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Tuesday that Nevada school buildings will remain closed through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Districts and charter schools with approved Emergency Programs of Distance Education are expected to continue to offer learning opportunities to all students through the previously scheduled end of the school year as determined by local calendars.

The Nevada State Public Health Lab is currently conducting COVID-19 testing by way of real-time polymerase chain reaction, which is a form of testing that detects the virus itself. In the coming weeks, the NSPHL will begin a new form of testing, which includes detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Such a test may be able to determine whether a person has been infected with the virus, in the past.

The Assembly Republican Caucus addressed its plan Monday to reopen Nevada, proposing a framework, establishing a regional plan and a bi-partisan task force to advise on a strategy. It calls for Nevada to join the California, Oregon and Washington Western States Pact; establish a regional plan to modify Nevada’s stay at home orders and the caucus wants to immediately establish a curbside model that will allow non-essential retail businesses to open.

The Carson City School District will transition all secondary students to a Pass/Fail grading system for the second semester of the 2019-2020 school year. The decision comes as principals, instructional leaders, district-level administrators and members of the teachers’ union have discussed the extension of school closures following spring break.

Lane closures will take place beginning Monday, April 20 as the Nevada Department of Transportation changes exit numbers on Interstate 580 between northern Carson City and the Reno spaghetti bowl.

In late March, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requesting that the agency delay a public comment period for a controversial and complicated project to do maintenance on the Truckee Canal, a manmade diversion off the Truckee River.

Nevada State Parks and currently following the governor's directive to help stop the spread of COVID-19. They're asking the public to please, stay home, so we can all get through this together.

For the second time this week, Gov. Steve Sisolak with hold a press conference at 5 p.m. Thursday to update Nevadans on the Silver State's COVID-19 response. The governor will provide an update on COVID-19 testing in Nevada. He will be joined by Dr. Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory.
You can follow the press conference live via YouTube by going here.

In a perfect world, you would be able to run down to your local store and pick up a mask. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world, and there is a significant lack of masks not only for the public at large, but for health care worker as well.

To protect the health and safety of park visitors and staff amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Cathedral Gorge State Park, including Miller Point, will be fully closed, effective April 16, until further notice. The park will be closed to the public for all activities, including camping and day-use.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — In alignment with current federal, state and local guidance for social distancing and to ensure health and safety of its employees, visitors and volunteers, the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has temporarily closed national forest recreation sites and areas in the South Shore Recreation Corridor. The closures were effective as of Monday, April 13, 2020.

With the deployment of Point of Care Machines and an expansion of recent efforts to manufacture collection kits to use in testing for COVID-19, The Nevada Independent once again talked with the director of the Nevada State Public Health Lab, Dr. Mark Pandori, to learn where the state is with its various testing efforts.

The State of Nevada is set to receive a total of $1.25 billion in support from the Coronavirus Relief Fund set up through the U.S. Department of Treasury. Congressman Mark Amodei, NV-02, made the announcement via a news release Monday.