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Just a year after COVID-19 first showed up in Northern Nevada, Washoe County’s tourism and travel sector is showing promising signs of recovery with room tax numbers down only slightly from pre-pandemic levels.
Washoe generated nearly $71.6 million in room tax revenue during the first three months of the year, down less than a percent from nearly $72 million in 2020, according to the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. Washoe’s room tax numbers for the first quarter of this year were also down by less than 15% compared to 2019. That year, Washoe posted room tax revenues of $83.9 million for the first quarter about a year prior to the pandemic.
Novel Coronavirus In Nevada: Tuesday, May 4, 2021
6:00 p.m. | May 4, 2021
Nevada’s COVID-19 Vaccination Rate Still Declining
The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Nevada is still slowing down.
The state is vaccinating an average of fewer than 14,000 people per day, over the last two weeks. For comparison, Nevada was administering a 14-day rolling average of nearly 25,000 shots per day in mid-April.
The state has administered more than 1.9 million shots. Nearly 46% of Nevadans over 16 have received their first shot and roughly a third have completed vaccination.
There are currently 388 Nevadans hospitalized for confirmed or suspected COVID-19.
The state’s test positivity rate has remained steady at 5.7% for about a week.
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With less than a month to go before Nevada fully reopens the state, Washoe County is managing to keep its latest increase in COVID cases under control so far but a recent two-day spike in hospitalizations also serves as a reminder of the challenges the area faces as it tries to get back to normal.
Washoe County reported a sharp increase in active hospitalizations, which rose from 28 to 45 within a two-day period through May 4. The number would eventually dip to 38 by Tuesday. But it’s still higher than the 25 to 28 active hospitalizations that Washoe saw through most of April.
COVID-19: 60 variants in Washoe County despite downward trend
May 6, 2021
A Reno Fire Department employee administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a Mobile Consulate event April 24, 2021 at Evelyn Mount Community Center in Reno, Nev. Image: Ty O Neil / This Is Reno
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The Washoe County Health District is reporting 60 COVID-19 variants in the region, including four cases of the B.1.617 variant first identified in India.
Nonetheless, District Health Officer Kevin Dick said on Thursday that COVID-19 trends in Washoe County continue to be encouraging. The seven-day moving average of daily new cases has fallen to 39. That’s down from a high of nearly 500 in late November following Thanksgiving.
Disneyland has reopened in Anaheim, cruise lines are announcing sailing dates by midsummer, and more doors at venues are swinging open now that over 100 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.