Nevada facing double-bind of rising cases, limping economy

And though he implored residents to consider curbside pick-up, he said tourists were welcome to patronize restaurants as long as they followed protocols, such as abiding by the statewide mask mandate.But with cases surging, the current measures aren't working, officials acknowledge.On Thursday, Nevada reported 2,416 new confirmed COVID-19 cases — a record of daily new cases for the state.The Nevada Hospital Association reports 80% of hospital beds in the state are occupied and said in a bulletin this week that “current strategies are not successfully minimizing the spread of serious disease.”In Reno, where one hospital has begun moving some coronavirus patients into its parking garage, the county health officer recommended that the governor limit statewide gatherings to 10 people.Meanwhile, the governor is facing political pushback against more restrictions, along with workers, businesses and industry groups who have taken a big financial hit and are pushing for stability and some way to hang on.Sisolak, who is grappling with his own COVID-19 diagnosis, has not offered any details about what measures he’s planning to announce next week to curb the spread of the virus, which has so far infected more than 131,000 Nevadans and caused 2,011 deaths.While he hasn't ruled out temporary closures of casinos and restaurants, he has defended the current health and safety practices in place as extensive and said he'd be hard-pressed to make any decision that hurts the ability to welcome visitors.But the governor and his staff have offered little indication as to what other mitigation options they might pursue.“I don’t have a strong or definitive idea of what that looks like,” Nevada COVID-19 Director Caleb Cage said Friday.“We’ve done a stay-at-home order before and we’ve seen the impact on the virus and we’ve seen the impact on the economy that comes from that.