Twelve Nevada counties, including Churchill, have come under the governor’s latest directive to “mask up” because of substantial or high transmission.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID tracker has identified Churchill County with a substantiated level of high transmission rates while the other counties have also received a high-risk designation.
On the other end of the spectrum are low to moderate counties Pershing, Humboldt, Lander, Eureka and Esmeralda. For the 12 counties, though, everyone including fully vaccinated individuals should wear a mask in public settings.
Masks are required at Naval Air Station Fallon while individuals are in an indoor setting regardless of vaccination status.
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) facilities in areas of substantial or high transmission are requiring service members, federal employees, onsite contractor employees and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask in indoor settings in installations and other facilities owned, leased or otherwise controlled by DoD.
Service members, federal employees, onsite contractor employees and visitors who are not fully vaccinated also need to continue to physically distance consistent with applicable CDC and DoD Force Health Protection guidance.
Gov. Steve Sisolak vowed to follow the CDC guidelines. Each county will be evaluated weekly by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Resources for transmission rates. The governor’s directive further states, “For a county to change masking requirement status, it must remain in a transmission classification for two consecutive weeks before the mask requirement will be either increased or relaxed. If a county’s status changes, it will have until that Friday of the same week to implement that change.”
In counties with “low” or “moderate” transmission, the mask requirement remains the same as it was before the latest CDC announcement.
“Unvaccinated individuals must wear a mask while indoors or while in crowded outdoor settings. Vaccinated individuals do not need to wear a mask either indoors or outdoors. However, wearing a mask is now recommended when in a crowded setting, especially indoors.”
Effective Aug. 15, state employees who are not fully vaccinated will also be required to take weekly COVID-19 tests and proof of testing and results must be submitted to their human resources officer or department supervisor.
“The vaccine is the best tool we have to combat this virus and we are committed to making state government a safe and healthy environment for all employees and the public we are charged with serving,” Sisolak said in a prepared statement. “State employees have always led by example, and I remain confident they will continue to step up and follow these new mitigation strategies that will enable us to better protect each other and the fellow Nevadans we serve.”
In line with Nevada’s mask mandate, all state employees who live in substantial or high transmission counties regardless of vaccination status must wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth at all times that the employee is on duty, with some exceptions.
The guidance stated, however, unvaccinated individuals will still be required to wear masks while indoors or while in crowded outdoor settings.
