Governor Sisolak took to the airwaves last night at 5pm and in a press conference made a new directive that effective as of tonight, June 25th if you’re out in public, wearing a face mask will be required by ALL of us, all of the time, with a few exceptions.
If you’re interested in all of the legal ‘WhereAs’ and ‘Therefores’ to this, you can read the actual directive HERE. The decision was made as the state of California and a few others are doing the same, given that COVID-19 cases have continued to climb in our area and many others in the US, most particularly in the southern areas.
Nevada cases have continued to climb, and Boulder City’s case count, as of June 24th are at a total of 44. We’ve got some screen shots from the Southern Nevada Health District for you below. (For those interested, bookmark this link HERE, as we check this regularly.) There is the good news that the death and hospitalization rates are both down. However unfortunately, our case rate, and the 7-day rolling average of the number of cases has indeed continued to rise. Therefore the Governor also states that we will for now, remain in Phase 2 of reopening, and gatherings will continue to be limited to no more than 50 people.
We know this is not going to be popular with anyone. It’s dang hot outside and personally I just LOVE getting a hot flash while wearing a mask – sheesh! But to share just a few things that we’ve found, and think are credible explanations on how to wear masks safely, and also understand the science behind the request, we’ve got a few things for you below:
1. Some FAQ’s on face masks from Johns Hopkins Medicine
2. If you want to get really nerdy-scientific on the spread of Coronavirus, here’s a study from the National Academy of Sciences and the role face coverings may play in the prevention of spreading the virus
The bottom line is we should all try to be informed with as many hard facts and scientific understanding as possible, know the risks and protect ourselves and others while we try to stay open, and comply with this directive and hopefully see those numbers start to turn around. Please everyone stay safe and healthy and not politicize this issue or the spread of this disease.