County reveals largest coronavirus testing plan in Las Vegas Valley

In a partnership with the federal and state government, Clark County will administer up to 60,000 coronavirus tests over 14 days, marking its most ambitious effort yet to identify the spread in Southern Nevada.

Local officials announced the plan Wednesday as an “incredible, unprecedented boost in testing” and a “blitz attack.” County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said the county and its partners to date have consistently administered 5,000 tests daily and more than 20,000 a week.

The new “Stop, Swab & Go” program will offer free drive-thru and self-performed nasal swab testing between Aug. 31 and Sept. 18 at three locations: Fiesta Henderson Hotel and Casino, Texas Station Hotel and Casino, and Sam Boyd Stadium.

“This is a unique opportunity for our community to do an enormous amount of testing over a short period of time,” Kirkpatrick said in a statement. “The more cases we identify now the faster we can limit community spread and fully reopen our local economy.”

Better to test than to shut down the economy

Local government and health officials said Wednesday that the spread of the virus has slowed over the past four weeks, which Kirkpatrick attributed to compliance with public health measures such as wearing a face mask and social distancing.

And she said that businesses were also doing their part, pointing to how the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration reported that 95 percent of establishments in Southern Nevada within the past week were following mandates.

But even so, the county remains in the “red zone” by the standards of the White House, which recommended on Tuesday, as it had last month, that county officials increase restrictions including shutting down bars, pools and gyms, and limit public gatherings to 10 people or less and indoor-dining to 25 percent capacity, according to Kirkpatrick.

No more than 50 people are currently allowed to gather in public and indoor dining is limited to parties of six patrons or fewer.

“If I do 25 percent … people are going to go out of business,” she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal following Wednesday’s news conference. “I can not do that, so I’d rather beef up the testing, I’d rather beef up the contact tracing.”

And therein lies the present dilemma for local leaders in charge of the regional response to the pandemic: Navigating how to ensure people are safe while keeping the economy running.

The answer from the county so far has been to use millions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief funding to over-test, invest in contact tracing, acquire personal protective equipment and whatever else it can to confront the outbreak.

“But I can’t go back to groups of 10,” Kirkpatrick said. “You know what that would do to our economy? We have to have a balance.”

Testing details

The “Stop, Swab & Go” program, backed by the federal government, represents the first time a community has requested and received such aid, officials said. The county applied through the state, which in turn did so through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The federal government will provide the test kits, sample collection staff, lab capacity, registration and personal protective equipment, officials said.

Appointments, while not necessary, are strongly encouraged. Members of the public can sign up at DoINeedACOVID19Test.com.

The three test locations will be open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, adding to existing sites at UNLV and Cashman Center. It is available for anyone, whether symptomatic or not.

Call the Southern Nevada Health District between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. with general questions about COVID-19 at 702-759-4636. For resources available in Spanish, visit EstaEnTusManosNevada.com. And check out SNHD.info/covid for a calendar of testing events.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.