All bars, including those in casinos, and a handful of restricted gaming locations have been ordered to close.
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has ordered all bars, including those in casinos, and restricted gaming venues in seven counties to close for at least two weeks as coronavirus cases in the state continue to rise.
The emergency order
In the emergency order which was issued on Friday (10 July), Sisolak announced that bars, pubs, taverns, breweries, distilleries, and wineries that do not serve food, and restricted gaming locations must shut their doors. Restricted gaming venues are locations that are licensed to offer slot machines.
Venues that do serve food will be allowed to remain open and will still be limited to 50% capacity.
Governor Sisolak said: “We know that Covid-19 can easily spread when people are congregating for long periods of time, like inside a bar. In states where we have seen significant spikes, such as Arizona, Texas and Florida, they have all taken actions to roll back bars.”
“Recently, Dr Fauci, the US’s top infectious-disease expert, advised that congregating in bars poses a significant risk and is one of the most dangerous things people could do right now. We must heed his advice.”
At the time of writing, this applies to seven counties in Nevada; Clark (including Las Vegas), Elko, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Nye and Washoe.
Affected counties
In the emergency order, Sisolak said that the measures would apply to counties with an “elevated disease transmission” based on three criteria. The three criteria include:
- Less than 150 coronavirus tests per 100,000 residents per day
- A case rate higher than 100 per 100,000 residents
- More than 7% of coronavirus test come back positive
A county would need to meet two of the above criteria to fall under the Governor’s emergency order.
The counties will then be assessed after two weeks and must show positive changes for at least two of the criteria to be allowed to reopen.
For the initial seven counties affected, the assessment will take place on 24 July.
