Nevada Appeal Capitol Bureau
Friday, May 6, 2022
Gov. Steve Sisolak on Friday announced that he will end the COVID-19 state of emergency May 20.
He issued the proclamation granting himself enormous unilateral power to close businesses, issue restrictions on people and bar access to state buildings in March 2020.
“The COVID-19 pandemic tried and tested our state on every level,” he said.
But he said by working together, “we prevented our healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed and continued to provide services to Nevadans in need.”
He said while some parts of the directive have been relaxed, others such as waiving licensing requirements to allow added health care workers to get to work in hospitals and allowing doctors, nurses, EMTs and medical students to work under proper supervision are still in place. He said the state will work with appropriate partners as the emergency order ends.
Some people including a prominent number of Republican officials have said the order either should have ended long ago or never been put in place. They have called for amendments to state law to require any future emergency order to be reviewed by lawmakers after 30 days and giving lawmakers the power to end or extend it.
The first death in the state attributed to COVID-19 was reported March 16, 2020, just 11 days after officials said the first cases were found in Reno and Las Vegas, the Associated Press reported.
As of May 2, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported 665,095 known cases of COVID-19, and 10,780 deaths.
