Home Travel n Tour Los Angeles, Nevada ask people to mask up indoors

Los Angeles, Nevada ask people to mask up indoors

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Health officials from popular tourist destinations like Los Angeles and Las Vegas ask more people to mask up indoors. According to a Friday statement, the Southern Nevada Health District now recommends that people wear masks in crowded indoor public places – including Las Vegas casinos – regardless of vaccination status.

One day after Los Angeles County announced that it would reinstate an indoor masking policy due to a recent surge in new COVID-19 cases. More counties in California followed with mask recommendations Friday. The mask guidelines are meant to help quell the spread of COVID and the highly contagious delta variant, which has caused an uptick in daily cases in some regions across the U.S.

Mask mandate: Los Angeles County to require masks indoors — regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status

Why are masking recommendations changing?

The Southern Nevada Health District said it updated its guidance Friday since “using masks correctly has proven to be effective in helping to prevent people from getting and spreading COVID-19.”

Los Angeles

On Friday, eight more areas in California – Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma counties and the City of Berkeley recommended both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks indoors in public spaces.

The guidance is a precaution for those fully vaccinated and meant “to ensure easy verification that all unvaccinated people are masked in those settings,” according to a joint statement. The daily COVID case count has been climbing in Nevada and California recently.

According to the state’s website, California reported 4,651 new cases – 5.4 per 100,000 people – on Friday. About 52% of people are fully vaccinated in the state.

Daily COVID cases in Southern Nevada – where the Delta variant is the dominant strain – have returned to levels not seen since February. More than half of the state’s eligible population is not fully vaccinated.

Clark County – the home of the Las Vegas Strip – continues to account for the bulk of COVID-19 cases in the state and the highest incidence rate. Nearly 78% of COVID-19 cases in Nevada occurred there.

Brian Labus, an epidemiologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says the Southern Nevada Health Department is trying to combat the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant. “Our numbers are trending in the wrong direction,” Labus said. “Our recommendations must change to match what the virus is doing.”

COVID-19 and travel: The delta variant is spreading. Should travelers be concerned?

Los Angeles County: To require masks indoors — regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status

What does this mean for travelers?

Nevada health officials are pushing for more mask-wearing, but visitors may not heed their advice. “We don’t see very many people in public wearing masks (in Las Vegas), unfortunately,” Labus said. “People have rejected that guidance and are just not wearing masks, and I don’t know how much this recommendation will change that.”

The Nevada Gaming Control Board would be able to reimpose mask mandates on Las Vegas casinos but made no changes as of Friday. The board declined to comment. Labus said health officials would need to consider political and economic consequences before reimposing COVID restrictions or masking mandates.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates The Venetian on the Strip, said it would require vaccinated and unvaccinated staff to wear face masks while working in public indoor areas, but the resort is not requiring acts among guests.

According to spokesman Brian Ahern, MGM Resorts International, which runs the Bellagio and other Strip resorts, is “closely monitoring the situation” but did not change its masking policy Friday. MGM and Sands plan to post signs at public entrances sharing the new masking recommendation.

Dr. Hana Hakim, an associate member of the St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases, said it’s unclear whether more face masking policies will be implemented. That will depend on vaccination rates and more data on the prevalence of breakthrough infections or COVID cases in those fully vaccinated.

“Understanding the impact of the delta variant on vaccine efficacy will be essential in the re-masking implementation decision,” Hakim said via email. “For now, the critical message would be ‘get vaccinated.'” Casino consultant Debi Nutton said she doesn’t expect the recommendation to curb the pent-up travel demand Las Vegas has benefited from in recent months. “Right now, travel to Las Vegas is high,” she said. “I think our guests are comfortable. … I don’t know if this will have a huge impact.”

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Delta variant: Delta variant makes up 10% of new COVID cases in the U.S. Should Americans be worried?

Contributing: Ed Komenda, Reno Gazette-Journal.

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