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Nevada Gov. Sisolak provides an update regarding the covid-19 pandemic during a press conference, Monday, April 6, 2020.
Monday, April 6, 2020 | 6:45 p.m.
Gov. Steve Sisolak hinted at further enforcement of social distancing measures established to combat the spread of the coronavirus, warning on Monday that he will “tighten the faucet” if Nevadans continue to disregard protocols.
There are no penalties for residents venturing out of their homes for nonemergency reasons. Sisolak was vague when discussing what’s next, saying “if we get to that later in the week you’re going to see what stricter enforcement looks like.”
Sisolak continued to stress the need for social distancing, including during the upcoming Easter holiday. He encouraged Nevadans to point out, politely, when others are violating social distancing protocols.
“My wife and I have been invited to several Easter dinners, and I’m like ‘jeez, you can’t have Easter dinner, folks,’” Sisolak said. “This isn’t the time to have an Easter dinner of 23 people in your immediate family that you haven’t seen since Christmas.”
There have been 1,953 positive tests and 58 deaths across the state. Sisolak said he had seen different predictions on when the peak of infection may hit, from April 10-12 to mid-June. He said he would not predict when the plateau would hit.
“My concern is minimizing that peak and keeping as many Nevadans alive as we possibly can,” Sisolak said.
Sisolak has been a critic of the federal government’s distribution of testing kits and other materials during the pandemic. The federal government has sent 3,000 reagent kits and 4,000 test swabs to the state to date, he said.
“While we appreciate whatever testing components we get from the federal government, at this time, the reagents, swabs, are not nearly the volume necessary for us to perform the desired amount of testing that we want and our citizens want," Sisolak said.
Nevada’s economy, reliant as it is on tourism, has been especially hard-hit by the shutdown of nonessential businesses. Unemployment claims around the country and in Nevada have skyrocketed, leaving the state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation swamped.
“We do not have the structure in place, I can assure you of this, to process this kind of volume,” Sisolak said. “This department has never received the funding that it should have received. You could never expect a surge in claims anything like what we’re dealing with right now.”
Sisolak said the employment office has expanded hours and added staff, and is looking at further solutions. He encouraged those having issues to continue to seek benefits.
The governor also touched on the status of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, antimalarial drugs that he prohibited from being prescribed for coronavirus unless by a doctor in a hospital. President Donald Trump has pushed the drug as a treatment for COVID-19, with no scientific consensus of its efficacy.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has expressed skepticism of the drug’s use for the virus.
Sisolak said he was listening to medical professionals and the state Board of Pharmacy, and made the decision to prevent hoarding the drug so people could access it for its original purpose.
“I do know that I have had a lot of people that are expressing great concern that have a family member that is suffering from lupus, (and) this is the only drug that helps them,” Sisolak said. “They’re having difficulty getting that drug because some people hoarded it and used it as a proactive measure.”
