Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak tests negative for coronavirus

CARSON CITY — After potentially being exposed to COVID-19 during a visit with call center workers last week, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Wednesday that his swab test for the new coronavirus came back negative.

The governor was tested Tuesday night after he was notified that he may have been exposed to the virus during a visit last week to the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation call center in Carson City where an employee later tested positive for COVID-19.

Sisolak visited the site — while wearing a mask and adhering to social distancing guidelines, according to his office — to thank employees for their work handling the hundreds of thousands of unemployment insurance claims over the last two months.

The employee who tested positive was not in the building at the time of Sisolak’s visit and was asymptomatic while in the DETR building, his office said.

The potential scare caused Sisolak to cancel a 5:30 p.m. news conference Tuesday where he was scheduled to announce that Nevada would enter Phase 2 of reopening on Friday. He held a press call with reporters later that night to make the announcement, which allows bars that don’t serve food, gyms and several other businesses that were previously deemed nonessential to reopen after nearly two months of being shut down.

“I want to be clear: I feel fine and I am not experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19,” the governor said in his statement Tuesday night. “I hope Nevadans can use this as a learning lesson, if you have been exposed, or if you know someone who has been exposed, go get a test, even if you’re asymptomatic. It’s that easy.”

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.