Nye County preparing for transition to local control of COVID-19

In just over one month’s time, Nevada plans to turn over management of certain aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic to local authorities, and Nye County is gearing up for that transition, with an update on the status of the pandemic in the county provided to the Nevada COVID-19 Task Force at its Thursday, March 18 meeting.

While many may be looking eagerly toward May 1 when that transition is set to take place, others are eyeing the purported return of control to local authorities with doubt, including Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo. Expressing his frustrations over the plan as presented by the Nevada governor’s office, Blundo is now calling for the Nye County Commission to address an item that would assert the county’s desire to control one of the most debated and controversial mitigation measures associated with the pandemic, and one that is not set to come under local control in May, the statewide mask mandate.

Update to task force

During the March 18 COVID-19 Task Force meeting, Nye County Emergency Management Director Scott Lewis said though the county undoubtedly has had hurdles to clear in responding to the pandemic, the county’s outlook has been steadily improving in recent weeks.

“Nye County is in a unique situation, considering our 18,000-square-mile footprint. Our needs and risks vary between the north and the south, so we have had our challenges. However, our primary objective in Nye County is to continue moving our county safely and smartly toward 100% opening,” Lewis told task force members. “Our immediate considerations include protecting our schools, vulnerable populations and our businesses. We have adopted a flexible yet meaningful approach for risk management that allows us the ability to meet our respective objectives, no matter the location in Nye County, and we’ve been quite successful with that thus far.”

The county’s COVID-19 numbers are continuing to decline and its target hot spots continue to decrease as well, Lewis said, adding that contact tracing and daily reporting are still a large part of the county’s management strategy. On the vaccine effort, Lewis detailed that Nye County has been forging forth with vaccinations utilizing a variety of methods, including holding vaccination events at Nye County Department of Emergency Management fixed facilities, fire stations and government buildings, as well as through mobile PODs, or Points of Dispensing, which are created using converted fire apparatus that are able to head out into the community to bring the vaccine to specific groups and vulnerable populations. Pharmacies are also playing their role in getting shots into arms and Lewis said area medical providers are starting to ramp up in that effort too.

Public outreach has been crucial, Lewis said, noting that with the help of Nye County Public Information Officer Arnold Knightly, Nye County has been able to communicate effectively to the community about the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccine rollout. Social media has been a principal method of outreach, as have fixed and mobile display boards throughout the county, and bi-monthly reports are made to the Nye County Commission. In addition, Lewis said he and his team have attended meetings with business and community groups to help get the message out regarding not just the ongoing mitigation measures but the vaccination effort as well.

Though enforcement remains a challenge, Lewis said the county continues to offer support and guidance to local businesses.

At this point, Nye County is in the process of developing its COVID-19 Local Mitigation and Enforcement Plan, as required by the Nevada Governor’s Emergency Directive No. 041, which lays out the plan to transition to local control of the pandemic. The county’s local mitigation and enforcement plan is set to be presented to the Nye County Commission for approval in April, after which it will be submitted to the state.

In the meantime, Blundo, who is clearly not pleased with the governor’s transition plan, is angling to have the commission discuss an agenda item that would lay out its intention of reopening the county entirely and ending the mask requirement locally. “I’d like to request an item to… one, fully reopen Nye County to 100% occupancy; two, respect the citizens’ constitutional right to choose whether they want to wear as mask or not; three, direct the county manager to reopen all county and town offices under our jurisdiction and control and to leave any other localities to their discretion,” Blundo stated during the Nye County Commission’s Tuesday, March 16 meeting. “I look forward to seeing that as a very near, soon agenda item.”

Blundo noted that though the Nevada governor’s office has been planning to give control over COVID management to local authorities in May, the resumption of local control would only go so far. “Nothing is changing. It’s going to continue to be the same rigmarole and the same constraints on the public,” Blundo asserted, adding, “Under his directive (No. 041), section 7, it clearly states, these baseline statewide mitigation measures shall remain in place and will continue to be managed and enforced by the state, not by us. So when they say local control, I’m not the state, last time I checked.”

Under the state’s Roadmap to Recovery, it details that management and control of a several of aspects of the mitigation effort will transition to local authorities as of May 1. This means Nye County will have the ability to set, or do away with entirely, capacity limits for both public and private gatherings and events, as well as capacity limits, reservation requirements and seating limits for establishments such as restaurants and bars. The county will also control capacity caps for places of worship, libraries and art galleries, gyms and yoga studios, spas and hair salons, retail stores, community centers and recreational centers, bowling alleys, pool halls, theme parks, racetracks, arcades and similar activities. The county will receive control over youth and adult recreational sports and control over businesses and activities that have been shuttered since the start of the pandemic, including brothels, adult entertainment establishments, nightclubs, day clubs and karaoke, will transition to local authority as well.

However, there is one big asterisk woven throughout the whole of the governor’s emergency directive No. 041 and the associated Roadmap to Recovery plan which explains that though much of the mitigation measures will soon be up to local authorities, there are still aspects that the state will continue to control.

The document explains that statewide face-covering requirements and social distancing protocols will remain in place, and this is an apparent sticking-point for Blundo, as well as many others who have been chafing under those two specific mandates. The Roadmap to Recovery dictates that the state will retain its power regarding the reopening of schools, crisis standards of care, Open Meeting Law provisions set up in the wake of the pandemic and gaming and cannabis establishments as well.

Commissioner Donna Cox said she agreed with Blundo’s take on the situation. “They’re going to drag this out forever if we don’t put our foot down. So, it’s time,” Cox declared, noting that the governor’s mandates are not laws, as the governor is not able to create laws. “I know this is going to be a difficult task,” commissioner Frank Carbone interpolated. “But we need to at least push forward. I know staff is probably going to be a little leery about putting this together, but again, if they are telling us we’re going to take control of our county, let’s take control of our county.”

Nye County Manager Tim Sutton interjected to assure commissioners that county staff was not “leery” of reopening, adding, “We are excited and I think everybody wants to be done wearing masks and all of that.”

“Yes, we’re all anxious,” commission chair Debra Strickland concurred. “But the ‘how’. That’s the problem. The ‘how’.”

Residents will have to wait to see how the situation falls out when the agenda item Blundo called for appears on a future commission agenda.

Latest county COVID numbers

As of Monday, March 22, Nye County was reporting a total of 2,848 cases of COVID-19 with just 18 cases reported in the preceding seven days. There have been 96 deaths from COVID-19 locally.

A total of 12,052 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nye County, with 7,845 vaccines initiated and a further 4,281 having been completed.

Vaccination appointments are available for Pahrump tomorrow, Thursday, March 25, as well as Friday, April 2. Those eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine through Nye County at this time include persons 65 years and older, persons ages 18 to 64 who have underlying health conditions, persons with disabilities, community support staff, essential logistics and supply chain personnel and medical staff.

Vaccine appointments through Nye County can be made at https://booking.appointy.com/en-US/snyecovid/bookings/service

Vaccine appointments can also be booked at local pharmacies through the Smith’s Food and Drug, Walgreens, Walmart and Raley’s websites.

Those with questions or who need assistance with booking an appointment can contact the Nevada Department of Health and Human Service’s vaccination call center from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week at 800-401-0946. More information on the state’s vaccine efforts can be found online at NVCOVIDFighter.org.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com