MEDIA SPOTLIGHT:  “As the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the United States, Las Vegas seems to be operating business as usual,” the Daily Beast reported July 17, 2020.  “Casinos have been open since June 4—undeterred by the 123 visitors who have tested positive for the highly contagious virus and the 51-year-old Caesars employee who died in late June.”

Health care workers are “‘overwhelmed and terrified’ about the massive influx of new cases in a state officially deemed a “red zone” by the White House.”

TheDailyBeast.com posted the article about the same time the International Fastener Expo canceled its late September 2020 trade show in Las Vegas.

“I would say in the last month we’ve been completely overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and our hospital is running out of space,” one Las Vegas emergency room doctor told Daily Beast reporter Pilar Melendez.  “Not only are we overwhelmed and terrified, but based on the numbers for the rest of the country, it’s only going to get worse for us.”

Nevada loosened coronavirus restrictions in May, and by July was setting records for new cases.  The rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is higher than the national average.  The The Nevade Dept. of Health & Human Services reported Las Vegas area set a new record of 1,315 new cases on July 16.

”Workers fear that they will contract the virus and bring it home to their families or possibly die from it,” Bethany Khan, communications director for the Las Vegas Culinary Union, told the Daily Beast.

At least 626 people have died from the coronavirus and 31,915 have been infected in Nevada.

Brian Labus, a professor of public health and outbreak investigation at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, emphasized to the Daily Beast that Las Vegas “exists for tourism” and therefore has a unique issue of balancing “its economy with the safety issues.”

“You have to remember the kind of people who are coming to Las Vegas right now.  It’s the people who are the least concerned about this outbreak right now—least likely to follow the social distancing,” Labus said.

The Culinary Union filed a lawsuit against several major casinos to protect workers returning to work.  The lawsuit states that the casino hotels have not adopted precautions to address the virus, have not conducted adequate tracing, and haven’t informed employees of positive tests among co-workers.

Khan  said 20 union members and their spouses or kids had died from COVID-19 in the last three months.

“In a July 14 document from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, public health officials said Nevada had reached ‘red zone’ status—meaning there were more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 residents in the prior week,” the Daily Beast reported.  “Nevada had about 173 new cases per capita in the previous week, compared to the national average of 119.”

In order to combat the surge, the White House document suggested Nevada—and 17 other states—limit large gatherings, close down indoor establishments, and issue a mask mandate.”

A New York Times study showed Nevada’s surge to be among the highest in the world.  The study of the number of daily infections between June 28 and July 5 showed Arizona and Florida are the two most infected places in the world.  Nevada placed ninth, before Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and the country of Panama.  Nevada also ranked before Brazil, a country seen as one world’s most severe hot spots with more than 2 million cases recorded since March.

The ER doctor, who worked 100 hours this week, told the Daily Beast the fear is knowing that the worst of the virus is yet to come for Las Vegas.

“This is uncharted waters and it seems like everyone in Las Vegas has been too lax about the pandemic,” the doctor said, stressing that local officials have not taken the necessary precautions to ensure they “stop the virus in its tracks months ago.”

Editor’s Note: Articles in MEDIA SPOTLIGHT are excerpts from publications that show the industry what the public is reading about fasteners or fastener companies.”