LETTER: Nevada counties get more control in pandemic

Your April 27 editorial rightly suggests that Gov. Steve Sisolak pass more control of COVID restrictions to Clark County, as has since been done. This, however, does not mean the pandemic is over.

Andrew Atkeson of UCLA writes in a March 12 paper that “public measures to control an epidemic may well be partially undone by private response to a declining disease prevalence.” This happened last October and at the end of the July 4 surge. Restrictions were relaxed, and, believing this meant the pandemic was fully under control, many treated masks and social distancing as optional. All gained was lost, and the Thanksgiving surge only amplified what began in October.

The United States is now close to 50,000 cases per day, the rate of early October. If members of the public again ignore restrictions and too many feel individual rights to be more important than being vaccinated, the upcoming national holidays could lead to a repeat of last fall and more restrictions.