Washoe County, which includes the city of Reno, will require masks indoors starting July 30. | Unsplash
Washoe County, which includes the city of Reno, will require masks indoors starting July 30. | Unsplash
Washoe County is on the list of Nevada counties that will begin requiring residents to wear masks indoors beginning July 30, according to a press release from the Nevada Health Response.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations on July 27 advising fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings where the risk of transmission is high.
"Nevadans & visitors – please see the latest update below. Let’s mask up to keep one another safe. And if you haven’t yet, get your #COVID19 vaccine. Visit NVCOVIDFighter.org to find a clinic near you," Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak wrote on Twitter.
According to the CDC's COVID-19 guidelines, the policy was introduced due to the number of COVID-19 cases linked with the highly transmissible delta variant that has increased throughout the country.
"The delta variant has shown to be much more contagious and spreads more than twice as easily from one person to another, compared with earlier strains," Meghin Delaney, communications director for the Nevada Health Response, said in the press release.
As of July 28, Washoe County reported 1,407 active cases of COVID-19, with 72 of those cases being classified as "new." The county reported 47,296 cases of the virus and 690 deaths among its 478,155 residents.
"The state of Nevada continues to encourage all residents and visitors to be vaccinated as soon as they are able," Delaney said in the press release. "All three vaccines are safe and effective and Nevadans 12 years of age and older are encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Twelve of Nevada's 17 counties will mandate everyone to wear masks inside, according to the release.
Those counties include Carson, Churchill, Clark, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Washoe and White Pine.
Additionally, the Nevada Health Response stated that the new CDC mask guideline released on July 27 recommends "universal masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status."
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