Nellis Air Force Base remains in Phase 3 of reopening plan
Nellis Air Force Base has not yet met the requirements to move to Phase Four of its reopening plan, base officials announced Monday.
The base remains under a public health emergency and in Phase Three, which it entered on June 1.
The announcement said the base has not achieved a significant reduction in positive COVID-19 cases, robust testing capability, hospital surge capacity or extensive tracing measures, among other stipulations and sustained for at least two weeks.
The Nellis Air Force Base hospital remains open to all eligible beneficiaries.
Access to the main base, where the satellite pharmacy is housed, remains restricted to only base personnel and dependents of uniformed members.
Retirees continue to have access to their prescriptions by mail or retail pharmacy options, and will be reimbursed for costs that exceed $3,000 per family.
The base’s public health emergency was declared April 3 and renewed May 4.
Although the base has declined to give the number of COVID-19 cases on base, an email obtained by the Review-Journal and dated April 23 showed that Col. Cavan Craddock, former commander of the 99th Air Base Wing, told base personnel that 1,083 tests had been administered at Nellis hospital. Fifty-one came back positive, he said.
The first case connected to the base was announced on March 19 and involved a service member from the NATO military alliance who was at the base earlier in the month for Red Flag 20-2.
During Red Flag, more than 80 aircraft depart Nellis twice a day and remain in the air for up to five hours. Since 1975, 29 other countries have joined the U.S. in these exercises, and several other countries have participated as observers.
Up-to-date information on Nellis’ status is available on its website: https://www.nellis.af.mil/
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.