Las Vegas bounces back, but viruses are on the rise – WJET / WFXP / YourErie.com

Las Vegas (AP) – Sin City is back 15 months after the pandemic transformed Las Vegas from a glamorous spectacle to a haunted city.

With the influx of tourists again and record gambling revenues, the Las Vegas Strip has its first new casino in 10 years and a big concert begins in a sparkling new stadium. The plexiglass panels installed to separate players at the poker and blackjack tables have been drastically removed, the world-famous buffet has been reopened, and the nightclub’s dance floor has been packed.

Vice President Kamala Harris has been set up to travel on Saturday for what the White House is calling the “American Back Together” tour to celebrate progress against the virus.

However, its progress is threatened. Nevada recorded the highest proportion of new COVID-19 cases in the country this week, hospitalizations are on the rise again, and highly contagious delta mutants are in the state’s most prevalent viral form. .. The urgency of a campaign to vaccinate more people.

Yet where the economy grows with crowds and unbridled behavior, a return to pandemic restrictions and mask requirements seems out of the question.

Inside the casino, patrons don’t need to wear masks if they’re fully vaccinated, but employees don’t appear to be asking anyone for proof.

Teresa Lee, a 47-year-old tourist from Nashville, Tennessee, said as she stood on the Strip looking at the fountain in front of Bellagio, “everything seems to be back to normal.” It was. casino.

Lee said she felt safe getting the vaccine in Las Vegas as she read about the casino’s efforts to vaccinate its employees and their families.

“People are everywhere,” said Tyler Williams, 22, of Eugene, Oregon, who said he didn’t feel like a pandemic had happened. He said he had rarely seen anyone with a mask, except for a few foreign tourists, and felt that he did not need to wear the mask himself because he was vaccinated. ..

Las Vegas fully reopened and lifted most trade restrictions on June 1, but many casinos have already returned to 100% capacity before that with state regulatory approval. I did. The number of visitors is not the highest before the pandemic, but it has increased to double digits for the fourth consecutive month.

The show and fireworks are slated for the weekend of July 4, and the new 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, where the relocated NFL Raiders will begin this fall, will host its first major concert on Saturday. Illenium electronic dance music. I had planned to do it. Next weekend there will be a full capacity Garth Brooks show.

Over the past two weeks, Nevada’s diagnosis rate of 190 new cases per 100,000 has been higher than that of Missouri, Arkansas and Wyoming (low levels of immunization in all states) and the institute. public health department. Found delta mutations in almost half of the COVID-19 cases analyzed.

What’s more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of patients hospitalized for the virus is well below December levels when hospitals nearly reached capacity, but has increased by 33% over the past week.

State biostatistician Kyra Morgan said on Friday that the upsurge in incidents could result from the full reopening of the state and city in June, with crowd returns and major events on the strip continuing to increase. Declared.

“If you know anything about COVID, you will know that when people are near each other and in large numbers, this is a recipe for increasing COVID infection,” Morgan said.

State and local authorities have said almost all new cases and hospitalizations are in unvaccinated people, and the best way to tackle the problem is to take more hits with a gun. According to the CDC, Nevada has fully immunized 45% of people over the age of 12, well below the national level of 55%.

“We are skeptical about vaccines,” Morgan said. “Frankly, there are a lot of anti-boxers in Nevada.

State and local authorities, who held a vaccination clinic at the Strip Club in May, said they were trying to find more ways to persuade people, including selling a cash lottery.

Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak, who took an unprecedented step to shut down the casino the past 11 weeks after the pandemic began, joined the COVID-19 response team sent by the Biden administration on Thursday to step up testing and vaccination. An epidemic community who said they would ask for help.

Sisolak’s office did not respond to whether it was considering imposing mask obligations or other restrictions, but officials in the Las Vegas area said those fully vaccinated did not ‘had no masks. He indicates that he is following CDC guidelines that he is safe to enter.

“At this time, there is no discussion of tightening restrictions on work and social life here in Clark County,” said Dr. Fermin Regen, health director for the Las Vegas area. “Getting more numbers through immunization is the solution to this problem right now. “