Testing clears close contacts of 2 COVID-19 cases in Northern Nevada

RENO – Northern Nevada’s largest county had no new COVID-19 infections to report Monday after testing on people connected to two cases of the disease in Washoe County came back negative, officials said.

In a briefing, Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick also said the county had requested $4.4 million from the federal government to help with its response to the coronavirus outbreak, a figure he called “aspirational.”

“I don’t expect that we’ll get that much funding. but that was for looking at what potentially could unfold from this, and not what we’re seeing now in our community,” he said.

The funds would come from the $8.3 billion in federal aid approved in Washington, D.C., last week, $950 million of which is earmarked for local and state governments.

Dick said the county had tested several individuals, some of whom showed symptoms of illness, but all results have come back negative for COVID-19. Those tested would remain self-isolation for the required full 14-day period from time of last contact with one of the two known Reno-area cases, he said.

“But it’s a relief to know that the symptoms that we did see in those cases are not COVID-19, so we don’t have any local transmission that we’ve identified,” he added.

The two unidentified men who have tested positive, one in his 50s and the other in his 30s, remain at home in self-isolation. The older man was a passenger on a cruise ship where 21 cases of the virus have been identified; the younger was diagnosed Saturday after visiting an area hospital following a trip to Santa Clara, California.

The Huffaker elementary school in Reno that closed Friday as a precaution was open again Monday. Relatives of the older COVID-19 patient attend the school, the health department has said.

Dick said some area emergency departments “have been overwhelmed” with people worried they have the virus. He said area residents should call a county phone line, 775-328-2427, to get an assessment, or call the 311 service line.

“We’re working to see how we can expand our capacity,” Dick said. “As I’ve explained to many people, we are building this plane while we’re flying it, and we’re going to continue to build it.”

He again stressed that Washoe County and Reno, the state’s third largest city, has “a very low potential for somebody to be exposed to COVID-19” but recommended that people should reassess travel plans or take other precautions, such as avoiding large gatherings.

Contact Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DentzerNews on Twitter.