LAS VEGAS (AP) – A New Year’s Eve event at a crowded Las Vegas mall, expected to be attended by at least 14,000 people, could be a superextension event that surpasses hospitals, according to reported Tuesday members of the Nevada coronavirus working group.
Caleb Cage, response director for Nevada COVID-19, said plans for the annual Fremont Street Experience event could hamper the state’s ability to contain the virus amid a steady increase in hospitalizations.
“It looks like the city worked very hard to border on the spirit and letter of the directives as they are written to protect us,” he said.
Since November, Nevada has limited event capacity to 25% or 50 people to contain the virus. Cage said the Fremont Street event not only violated current restrictions, but would not be allowed in any of the looser restrictions of the past ten months.
The Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration denied Fremont Street Experience permission to hold its annual celebration, but the city of Las Vegas issued a special use permit at the site to charge for access enforce crowd control.
City spokesman David Riggleman said that by issuing a special use permit, Las Vegas did not sanction any event, but acknowledged that many had planned to meet in a public place and try to make it as safe as possible. possible.
“People come to the Fremont Street Experience and the city’s question was, ‘What was I going to do to prepare for people to come?’ Said Wesley Harper, the executive director of the Nevada League of Cities, who spoke on behalf of Las Vegas. “If they come, we do some things to try to make this as responsible as possible.”
Harper implored officials to view the event as a “protest” that could not be stopped without violating the First Amendment. He said the cost of $ 25 was not for tickets, but for a “service fee” to subsidize the cost of law enforcement needed.
Fremont Street Experience public relations representative Terri Maruca declined to comment.
According to the outdoor mall website, everyone will need to wear a mask at all times and stay about 6 feet away. Unlike past years, Thursday’s event will not include street performers or live music. But guests will be able to see a light show, see the Slotzilla Zoomline and stroll through the six blocks of the hallway. Guests of hotels on Fremont Street will also be allowed on the party grounds.
Clark County Commission Chair Marilyn Kirkpatrick told the state task force she was concerned that the event could cause hospitals in the Las Vegas area to exceed their capacity. In Clark County, 87% of licensed hospital beds, including 78% of ICU beds, were occupied as of Monday, the most recently available data.
Kirkpatrick said he worries that it will be the hospitals and their staff, rather than the New Year’s Eve partygoers, who will pay the price for the event. Although not under county jurisdiction, he said he planned to ask organizers to reduce the size of the event to 7,000 and cancel the light show.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Deputy Director Kelly McMahill said at a news conference Tuesday that officers will not enforce the Nevada mask warrant or the social distancing requirement on New Year’s Eve, but they have planned to ask pedestrians to comply.
“We welcome you to have a good time, but we also don’t want to go back months in this pandemic, where more and more people are going to the hospital and closing the city,” McMahill said.
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Sam Metz is a member of the body of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national non-profit services program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on poorly covered issues.