Thanks for tuning in to my press conference tonight. Follow along with this thread for updates on Nevada’s COVID-19 Roadmap to Recovery....

Nevada is continuing to operate in Phase 2 of our Roadmap to Recovery plan, allowing our medical, public health and emergency response professionals to evaluate and analyze new trends, including what is now a four week upward trend of new daily cases.

We are still watching the continued increase in our confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations as well. Recently, that number reached 439 cases in Nevada’s hospitals statewide, however, patients requiring ICU beds and ventilators continues to hold steady.

The Nevada Hospital Association is regularly evaluating the effects of COVID19 on staffing, PPE supplies and bed capacity. At this point, the hospital association continues to remain confident they can serve the needs of all Nevadans.

I want to take a moment to remind everyone where we’ve been. Our goal for Phase 1 was to flatten the curve. Nevadans responded to the challenge and we were able to lift some restrictions.

To go to Phase 2, our goal was to achieve 14 days of flat or decreasing positive test rate and hospitalizations. Many Nevadans acted responsibly, and after achieving those goals, we reopened much of our economy.

At that time, I mandated Nevada businesses and employees who interact with the public wear face coverings and continued to strongly encourage members of the public to wear face coverings as well. Unfortunately, as you can see from the data, we have taken some steps backwards.

Clearly for many, the excitement and enthusiasm for escaping our confinement and finally being able to enjoy dinner out with our families, buy new clothes or get a haircut, overshadowed the good judgement we practiced in the previous months.

So I want to put it to you like this: If back in March, before we shut down our economy, I said to you: we can keep our economy open if everyone agrees to wear masks and maintain 6 feet in person-to-person distance. Who would have not accepted that offer?

I don’t know why or when protecting our health and our neighbors’ lives became a political, partisan or even philosophical decision. For me it’s none of those. It’s a medical necessity, a human obligation and it’s good for business.

Study after study, worldwide, every notable medical professional from President Trump’s top advisor, Dr. Fauci, to all of our Nevada medical professionals, assert one unassailable conclusion: Wearing face coverings saves lives, period.

We owe it to each other to accept the fact that wearing face coverings saves lives. We owe it to the many workers, health care professionals, retail clerks, restaurant workers, grocery store employees to accept that fact. We owe it to Nevada’s many businesses to accept that fact.

My fellow Nevadans: I’m offering us all another opportunity to limit our risk for exposure and infection, and to keep our businesses open and our economy moving. For Nevada to stay safe and stay open, we must make face coverings a routine part of our daily life.

That’s why, today, I signed a directive with a new requirement for Nevadans and visitors to wear a cover their nose and mouth with a mask or face covering, when in public space, whether publicly or privately owned. This directive is effective on Friday.

This especially applies to indoor activities in which you are near other people, including grocery stores, retail businesses, malls and gaming properties. Detailed guidance is available online at http://NVHealthResponse.nv.gov .

There are exceptions, including those with medical conditions that make it difficult to breathe, those with a disability that prevents them from wearing a face covering, and young children between the ages of two and nine. The full list is outlined in the guidance online.

I encourage all businesses to prominently post signage to alert customers and help ensure this directive is followed. I know there are some businesses who have already required face coverings for customers and I thank you for this strong and helpful stance.

Businesses that fail to meet requirements in this directive will face violations from licensing agencies and regulatory authorities, in addition to Nevada OSHA. A reminder as well that businesses have the right to ask a patron to leave if they are not following this directive.

But it’s not just on the businesses or state and local government – it’s on all of us. I am asking individuals throughout Nevada to take this seriously and understand the risk you are posing on yourself and others by not wearing a face covering.

I don’t want to have to take steps backward by imposing stronger restrictions on those identified as high risk if I don’t have to – and the best way to prevent that is to not let a business type or industry become high risk in the first place. It's on all of us, Nevada.

To be clear, due to the data and time needed for evaluation of contact tracing and impacts of this new face covering directive, any discussion of entering Phase 3 will be tabled. The pandemic is not over, we are still in the middle of the first wave of COVID.

I know Nevadans are worried not only about their health but also about their jobs and commerce. They keep asking, “What can I do to help?” You can do this. Everyone can. This simple act is this is not only a way for us to save lives, but a way for us to save the Nevada economy.