Since August 2021 Las Vegas has operated under mask and vaccine mandates and as of October they still are active. This is high on a lot of visitor’s concerns, at least as far as I can judge from the constant questioning on social media of: “Will the mask mandate be over when I visit?” and “Should I cancel my trip? Two months into the second round of mandates it seems to be a smart time to see where we are, and what we can expect into the future. Here we go…
Quick, as an aside I am taking no side on whether mandates or vaccines are good or bad. In Nevada in general and Las Vegas in particular mask mandates are here. If you are like me and live in Las Vegas it is part of your life. If you visit here you will have to deal with it, or not come. Simple as that.
What are the Mandates
There are several parts to the current mandates. Here are the most important parts:
- All persons in indoor public areas must wear a mask that covers their nose and mouth. Exceptions for small children. No mask mandates for private areas or outdoor public areas (not including such venues as stadiums).
- Events with 250 or more people must submit and have approved by the local health district a mitigation plan for CoVid protection.
- Stadiums and other large venues have the option of requiring all attendees of their event to be for only vaccinated individuals. If they do so the attendees do not have to wear masks.
The most prominent example of a venue requiring vaccination is Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, UNLV football and other large events. If you are fully vaccinated masks are not required. Partially vaccinated you can enter but must wear mask. Failure to provide proof of vaccination results in refusal of entry.
When Will the Mandates Go Away
These mandates for Nevada and Las Vegas are being reviewed monthly, but don’t expect them to go away until sometime in 2022. Let me explain:
Both the State of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Health District (which covers the Las Vegas area) have tied the requirements for having an open economy to the Center for Disease Control’s guidance. Las Vegas is considered to be a high contagious location for two general reasons: medical statistics and the general nature of the Las Vegas economy.
In Las Vegas the CoVid numbers are above the CDC red lines. The CDC wants to see a positive infection rate below 6% for at least three consecutive weeks. Since August 2021 the infection rate has ranged from just below 10% to a bit above 6%. The other side are statistics are the rates for hospitalization of CoVid cases, which are generally running about 700% higher than CDC guidelines.
The second general side is the fact that so many visitors come to visit Las Vegas. Normal non-pandemic years Las Vegas was used to seeing 42,000,000 visitors a year. While current visitations are running around 80% of a normal year, that is a lot of people coming from all over the United States, mixing with many others and then going home. This makes Vegas the ideal super spreader spot. With vaccine rates still seriously lagging far below where health experts want them to be, infection numbers do not look to improve anywhere near enough in the short term to make the Governor, the Southern Nevada health officers or the Nevada Gaming Commission to ease off.
Expect Masks to be the Las Vegas Normal into Summer 2022.
So that’s it. Las Vegas’ unique situation of mixing people from all over the country tied to disappointing vaccination rates and high infection numbers look to keep Las Vegas under mask and vaccination mandates for the near future.
I personally expect these number to remain disappointing through the Fall and Winter flu season. I expect (hope, pray) that late Spring the numbers will fall so we can get to something approaching a new normal.
What do you think? I’d love to read your comments!
The Vagabond Horizon 