Half of Carson City area coronavirus cases exposed by unknown source, supervisors told

Half of the individuals who have contracted the coronavirus in Carson City and Quad-County area were infected through community spread.

That means that half the 345 people known to have the virus were exposed to it from an unknown source. The other half of infections can be traced back to contact with an individual — family, friend, co-worker or other person — who had already tested positive.

Carson City and Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties are currently reporting an average of seven coronavirus cases a day, based on a seven-day rolling average, Dustin Boothe, division manager, Carson City Health and Human Services, told the Board of Supervisors Thursday.

So far, 13,585 tests, representing 7.5 percent of the area’s population, have been administered. So far, 2.6 percent of those have tested positive.

Mayor Bob Crowell asked if there have been any instances of people getting the virus from dining out.

“As patrons of restaurants, no. As workers, yes. I highly encourage people that when they go out to wear a mask when they’re not eating. You should be protecting those restaurant workers like they’re protecting you,” said Boothe. “Outdoor dining is a better choice and if you’re not feeling well do not go out.”

CCHHS continues to do community-based testing, administering 430 tests at a recent drive-through event at Carson High School.

“The call center is busy, it took 178 calls on Monday, the highest number ever,” said Jeanne Freeman with the emergency operations center.

The department is also in the process of hiring more staff, paid for through federal grants, to help in the response, including a statistician, epidemiologist, two case investigators and a testing coordinator.

Freeman said legislators and their staffs are being tested for the virus before coming to Carson City for the July 8 special session of the Legislature called by Gov. Steve Sisolak.

Sheri Russell, chief financial officer, delivered some good news for the city budget during the board update. Sales tax for April, the first full month of business closures, was down 5.8 percent, a better than anticipated result.

“It astounded me,” said Russell.

She said that if May and June sales tax dips 15 percent the budget will be on target thanks to a 10 percent higher than expected collection in January.

The board briefly discussed what to do with roughly $10 million in federal money to pay for the coronavirus response, which must be spent by the end of the year. Russell said she is waiting on estimates from the Carson City School District and other city agencies on the costs of equipping for virus mitigation so the board will likely take up the topic at its next meeting on July 16.

The board made quick work of an otherwise short agenda.

The supervisors set a limit of 672 residential building permits that can be issued in 2021, a typical 3 percent increase from current allocations; approved its annual contract for bulk fuel purchases for city fleet; and heard its second biannual report on city jails, where no deaths occurred during the first half of the year.