Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D)is pushing back against Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodmanâs reopening plans following her interview on CNN.
Hours after Goodman appeared on CNNâs âAnderson Cooper 360,â Sisolak appeared on the show to weigh in on the discussion. Despite Goodmanâs eagerness to reopen, Sisolak suggested otherwise, noting the stateâs most recent death toll spike on Wednesday.
âWe are clearly not ready to open,â Sisolak said. âWe have, sadly, since you did that interview, we now have 187 deaths in the state of Nevada, but over 4,100 positive cases. I will not allow the citizens of Nevada, our Nevadans to be used as a control group, placebo, whatever she wants to call that. I will not allow that.â
He added, âI can tell you our largest trade union on the strip, culinary union 226 lost 11 members. They lost 11 members to COVID-19 already. Iâm going to do everything I can to make sure they donât lose 11 more.â
See Sisolakâs remarks below:
Sisolakâs remarks came shortly after Goodmanâs intense exchange with Cooper. Despite the continued rise in coronavirus, the Las Vegas mayor adamantly insists it is time to reopen.
Claiming that the state had an estimated 150 coronavirus-related deaths out of a population of 2.3 million people in Southern Nevada, Goodman shared her desire to reopen the city and its main tourist attractions â namely hotels, casinos, and stadiums.
She also argued that a control group would be needed to develop more statistics on the virus.
âHow do you know until we have a control group? We offered to be a control group. Anybody who knows anything about statistic knows that, for instance, you have a vaccine, you give a real vaccine.â
Cooper interrupted and asked for clarity saying, âYouâre offering for the citizens of Las Vegas to be a control group to see if your theory on social distancing works or doesnât work.â
Goodman called Cooperâs remark âwrongâ but admitted that she did offer but was turned down.
See the exchange below:
During the interview, Goodman also delcared, âThis isnât China, this is Las Vegas,â in defending her desire to reopen parts of the stateâs economy. Cooper quickly responded, âWow, thatâs really ignorant.â
As of Thursday morning, the state of Nevada has more than 4,000 positive coronavirus cases and a death toll of 187.
