Nevada’s governor announced on Thursday that the state was dropping its statewide mask mandate, “effective immediately,” the latest in a parade of states governed by Democrats to loosen restrictions.
“Right now, I think this is a major step moving forward for people,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said. “Students and parents have been clamoring for this for a long time. Our businesses have been asking for this. I think this is the appropriate time.”
The Nevada Gaming Control Board notified the state’s casinos on Thursday that, because of the governor’s order, individuals were no longer required to wear masks in casinos unless there was a local mandate in effect.
The move came days before Sunday’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles, in which a record 31.4 million Americans are expected to place $7.6 billion in legal bets, according to the American Gaming Association.
Nevada joins a growing list of states, from New York to California, that have announced relaxations of mask mandates and other pandemic restrictions in the past week. Nevada’s action was more sudden than those of many other states, which were set to take effect several days or even weeks after they were announced.
And while some states have lifted indoor mask requirements only for vaccinated residents, Nevada is lifting its mandate for everyone, regardless of vaccine status.
“There’s a certain group of the population, a percentage — and we can debate what that percentage is — that’s not going to get the vaccine,” Governor Sisolak, a Democrat, said in an online news conference Thursday. He added, “I don’t want to hold the entire society back, or the entire economy back, as a result of some people that don’t want to get the vaccine.”
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called the moves to lift mask mandates and other precautions premature.
“Our hospitalizations are still high, our death rates are still high,” Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the agency, said at a recent news briefing. “So, as we work toward that and as we are encouraged by the current trends,” she added, when it comes to relaxing restrictions, “we are not there yet.”
Governor Sisolak said that he and his state’s health officials had taken the C.D.C.’s guidelines into consideration, but that “I am doing what I think is best, based on the citizens of the state of Nevada.”
The governor’s move on Thursday applies to businesses, schools and correctional facilities. He said that though he was announcing it in midmorning, teachers and students in the state’s schools should continue wearing masks for the rest of the school day.
With the state mandate lifted, local authorities and private employers will be free to set their own policies on masks, Governor Sisolak said. “If a particular school board or business wants to go further than what my directive has, then they’re entitled to do that, and I respect that decision,” he said.
Average daily reports of new coronavirus cases are falling sharply in Nevada, and hospitalizations have begun to decline as well, though both remain much higher than before the Omicron surge took hold in late December.
More states may soon follow with their own relaxations of mask requirements. Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland has written to his state’s board of education, asking it to lift its mask mandate for the state’s schools. Governor Hogan’s letter, which cited declining cases and high vaccination rates, was obtained by The Baltimore Sun.
