A new plan from Clark County Commission chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick hopes to bring business back to 50 percent capacity across Nevada by March 1.
Since November 24, the state mandated that restaurants and other businesses can only offer 25 percent capacity with mandatory reservations and no more than four people per table. That mandate remains in effect until February 14.
Kirkpatrick plans to talk to the state’s COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force about increasing capacity to 50 percent since COVID 19 numbers statewide seem to be trending downward, KTNV reports. Wednesday saw 750 new cases reported in Nevada, below the moving 14-day average of daily reported cases of 896. On Tuesday, that state reported less than 1,000 new cases, the lowest number since November 4. While Nevada averaged 17 deaths a day over the past 14 days, Tuesday brought 49 new deaths.
While Kirkpatrick did not reveal her recommendations, she says her hope is to help the city’s hospitality, entertainment, and convention industries start to get back to business.
Wynn Resorts, for example, lost more than $2 billion because of the decline in business due to COVID 19 during 2020. Last year, the company reported $2.1 billion in revenues, down 68.3 percent from the $6.61 billion it made in 2019. Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox says that 170,000 conventions and meetings are already on the books at Wynn’s Las Vegas properties in July through December, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
As of February 4, the Southern Nevada Health District reported 216,817 cases of COVID-19, 11,989 hospitalizations, and 3,398 deaths since the pandemic started. In the past seven days, the county reported 5,136 new cases. Hospital capacity on January 31 was at 76 percent.
• Could businesses get back to 50% capacity soon? [KTNV]
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