CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak is activating 700 additional National Guard members to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak, state officials announced Tuesday.
The personnel will join 106 soldiers and airmen already helping to manage donations and distribution operations in Las Vegas and Reno. The activation becomes the largest in state history, officials said.
The additional personnel will provide medical support, food bank and warehouse logistics, transportation of supplies and set-up of alternate care facilities, officials said.
Most will report for duty in Las Vegas, where most of Nevada’s COVID-19 cases and deaths have occurred.
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.
Most people with the virus experience mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. Some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, can face severe illness including pneumonia and death.
Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada was closed to visitors in response to guidance from White Pine County health officials, the National Park Service said.
The park covers more than 120,500 square miles (312,135 square kilometers) and is known for its ancient bristlecone pine grove and Lehman caves.
Many of America’s most popular national parks have closed to prevent people from congregating and spreading the virus, including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands.
Near Las Vegas, the vast federal Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area are closed, and many state parks including Valley of Fire and Rye Patch also are shuttered.
In other developments:
— Federal officials said McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas will receive almost $195.5 million in coronavirus relief aid, and 29 other airports in Nevada will also get money. Reno-Tahoe International airport is due to receive about $31 million and Elko Regional Airport more than $1.3 million. Some air strips are entitled to a few thousand dollars. The Federal Aviation Administration said the grants are to help pay costs of dealing with the COVID-19 public health emergency.
— Curbside testing will increase this week from 140 to 200 per day at the UNLV School of Medicine, and may double next week to up to 400 per day, school officials said. They credited a newly arrived shipment of tests and support from Nevada National Guard members. Officials tallied more than 3,000 tests in three weeks at the drive-thru site in Las Vegas.
— A Nevada commission has recommended that state officials decide if nonviolent felons and elderly inmates should be freed from Nevada prisons to prevent the spread of the coronavirus behind bars. The proposal now goes to the state Pardons Board made up of the governor, the state’s seven Supreme Court justices and Attorney General Aaron Ford. The recommendation on Monday came as Las Vegas police reported the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 among detainees at the Clark County Detention Center. The person was transferred to University Medical Center for treatment.
— State health officials have charted 18 deaths and 237 cases of the new coronavirus at assisted living centers, nursing homes, in-patient treatment, detention and other institutional facilities. A new online state Department of Health and Human Services reporting tool is designed to be updated daily.
