Fiore rebuked by GOP over ‘racially charged’ remarks
Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore was rebuked by the Clark County Republican Party on Monday for “racially charged” comments it says she made during the party’s convention Saturday.
Fiore did not respond to a voicemail or text message sent Monday evening, but the state GOP’S top executive said Fiore denied making the comments.
“Ms. Fiore’s remarks were clearly inappropriate and ran counter to the thoughtful remarks of every other speaker and counter to the beliefs of the Clark County Republican Party,” the county party said in a statement.
Richard Maclean, the party’s chief of staff, said by phone late Monday that he estimated the party has received more than 100 calls regarding the comments, including from Republicans who were in attendance, and GOP lawmakers who were not, to express their dismay.
According to Maclean, who did not hear the comments firsthand, the narrative reported to him in the phone calls he received was similar: Fiore’s pro-law enforcement remarks
businesses ordered by Gov. Steve Sisolak on March 21. The governor allowed some shuttered businesses to reopen on May 9 under Phase One of the state reopening plan. Phase Two, which began on May 29, allowed more businesses to open, and on Thursday, casinos were again permitted to open their doors.
The county also reported two additional fatalities, raising the death toll to 365, according to the district, which released its report several hours later than usual after experiencing technical issues.
Hospitalization rate lower
The number of new cases was well above the daily average of just under 125 over the preceding week. The deaths were below the daily average of just over three during the period.
The hospitalization rate, considered a better indicator of the trend of the outbreak in the county than daily case or death reports, continued to edge lower despite the one-day spike in cases. That figure, which represents the percentage of those who test positive for the virus who end up in the hospital, stood at 17.16 percent as of Tuesday (excluding deaths).
It has been trending steadily lower since peaking at 27.50 percent on April 10.
The most stable indicator of disease transmission is the actual number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, Labus said.
The Nevada Hospital Association is reporting the fourth consecutive daily increase of confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state, “but hospital capacity remains available and hospitals are not reporting surges,” according to a news release from Nevada Health Response, an arm of state government.
Hospitals in Nevada are reporting that 68 percent of total beds are occupied, 66 percent of ICU beds are occupied and only 27 percent of ventilators are in use, according to the state. Hospitals are continuing to report a sufficient amount of the personal protective equipment such as masks that are used by medical staff.
‘Still among us’
Meanwhile, Nevada reported 244 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the case total in the state past the 10,000 mark.
“Nevada has flattened the curve, but the virus is still among us,” said state epidemiologist Melissa Peek-bullock. “That’s why it is important Nevadans continue to safeguard their health by staying home when possible, washing their hands frequently, wearing a face covering in public and staying at least six feet from other people if possible.”
Data posted on the state Department of Health and Human Services’ nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website reported Nevada’s case total at 10,030. It also recorded two new fatalities, pushing the state death toll to 444.
The new cases were the highest one-day increase reported by the state since 295 new cases were reported on May 22 and well above the daily average of just over 156 during the preceding week.
The spike in cases raised the state infection rate by one-tenth of 1 percent to 5.5 percent. The rate, which represents the number of positive tests divided by total people tested, also is considered a more reliable indicator of the direction of the outbreak in Nevada than daily case and death reports. It has been trending steadily lower since peaking at 12.66 percent on April 23, though it has ticked slightly higher three times this week.
“The increase in our percent positive is a little bit of a concern,” Labus said, but he noted that it is still well below what it had been.
State and health district epidemiologists reassign cases and deaths after they are reported to different dates in an effort to better capture when they occurred, so totals announced daily generally don’t match the detailed breakdowns provided by the health district.
Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_ brunker on Twitter. Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0336. Follow @Maryhynes1 on Twitter.