Staff Sgt. Ryan Getsie / Nevada Army National Guard via AP
This April 8, 2020 photo shows soldiers with the 1-221 Cavalry processing shipments of medical supplies in response to COVID-19 in Las Vegas. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak is calling 700 additional National Guard soldiers and airmen to duty to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak. State officials say the additional personnel will be activated this week.
Published Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | 12:03 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, April 14, 2020 | 5:45 p.m.
The Nevada National Guard is adding about 700 more soldiers and airmen to its coronavirus response, bringing the total number to about 800 in the largest state activation in Nevada history.
Gov. Steve Sisolak activated the National Guard on April 1 and called 106 guardsmen to service on April 6, two days after President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Nevada.
So far, troops have worked on managing and distributing supplies.
Most of the additional troops will be stationed in Las Vegas to provide medical support, help with food bank and warehouse logistics, transport supplies and set up alternate care facilities, officials said.
Health officials reported Tuesday that almost 3,100 people have tested positive for COVID-19 statewide, and 120 have died. More than 2,500 of those cases are in the Las Vegas area, where 106 people have died, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
In his April 1 news conference announcing the activation, Sisolak called the Guard the “best of the best.”
"From delivering critical medical equipment and supplies to providing a labor force and planning the massive logistical operations needed to get resources from point A to point B, no one is better," Sisolak said.
The Guard will not call up any medical professionals already working on the coronavirus response in their civilian capacities.
“They will not be activated because we have plenty of other people we can use,” Guard Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry said in a previous interview.
