Nevada mask mandate ends today

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Thursday lifted Nevada’s mandate that masks be worn in indoor public places, though school districts and businesses still have the discretion to require masks if they so choose.

In doing so, he has joined several other Democratic governors, including those in California and New York, who this week lifted or eased broad mask mandates aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Declining case rates and hospitalizations, as well as new treatments for the disease, all contributed to his decision, Sisolak said, which comes as resignation sets in that the country likely will need to coexist with the virus rather than vanquish it.

“I think that students and parents have been clamoring for this for a long time,” Sisolak said. “Our businesses have been asking for this, our population has.”

The governor’s decision was effective immediately except at schools, where the masking requirement was to stay in place through Thursday to avoid disrupting the school day.

Although school districts may continue to require masks, the Clark County School District signaled that it would not do so.

The district said in a statement that it “welcomes Governor Sisolak’s updated directive to end the statewide mask mandate for Nevada. .. Because COVID-19 continues, students and employees of CCSD can make the individual choice to continue masking.”

However, under federal rules, masks are still required on school buses, public buses and plans, the governor said.

Unlike states including California that will still require masks for those who are unvaccinated, Nevada’s mandate is lifted for vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. Sisolak said he did not want to place the burden on frontline workers to determine whether a person is vaccinated.

“I think that’s unfair to ask of people,” he said.

‘Based on science’

Nevada’s mask mandate had been tied to the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls for masks in jurisdictions where there is high or substantial transmission of COVID-19. As of Wednesday, all of Nevada’s counties were experiencing high transmission except for rural Eureka County, which had substantial transmission rates.

Sisolak said his decision was “based on science” and that he considered the CDC’s guidance more relevant to the earlier wave of cases from the delta variant than to the current omicron surge, which has been characterized by milder illness.

His move, he said, reflects “the precipitous drop in positive cases, the considerable drop in hospitalizations,” and analysis of coronavirus levels in wastewater — an early indicator of disease spread — showing a downward trend.

Some Republicans characterized the decision as politically expedient.

“The science changes when it’s politically convenient,” Assembly Minority Leader Robin Titus, R-Wellington, said in a statement.

Titus, a physician, said that Democratic governors, fearful of election losses, are “repealing their own imposed mask charade.”

“The science hasn’t changed, only the political science has,” she said.

‘The pandemic is not over’

The governor cautioned that it’s too soon to say that the emergency is over.

“The pandemic is not over,” he said. “We’re still getting far too many cases, far too many hospitalizations, and far too many deaths.”

But if more people get vaccinated, and cases continue to decline, “then we’ll be able to remove more restrictions,” he said.

He did not rule out reimposing the mask mandate in the future.

“I never say never,” the governor said.

“I’m hopeful that there won’t be another variant, or more severe variant, coming forward,” he continued. “Omicron is becoming more under control. So I’m hopeful and confident based on the data that we have, that we’re in a good position to drop this to give people back some freedom.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Mary Hynes at [email protected] or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.