Fremont Street Experience Risks Becoming a Superspreader

A planned Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas may hamper the progress Las Vegas and Nevada have made in containing the spreading of Covid-19.

Freemont Street Experience to Gather $14,000 People

With Las Vegas wrapping up 2020, a New Year’s event that will have at least 14,000 people attending may turn into a “superspreader.” Overrun hospitals and a growing number of Covid-19 infections make it hard to keep residents safe and businesses running, Nevada’s coronavirus task force warned on Tuesday.

According to Caleb Cage, head of the response team, the annual Fremont Street Experience gather-up could roll back the state’s efforts in curtailing the coronavirus spreading. Going ahead with the event would mean violating state and federal laws, and have potentially perilous economic consequences, Cage warned.

Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration has already denied a permit to the host, but a special-use permit has been put forward in what is not an official sanction by authorities, but rather authorities expecting people to gather up anyway, even if the event is not official.

The special-use permit will allow Fremont to enforce crowd control and safety measures.

The Nevada League of Cities executive director Wesley Harper had this to say cited by the Associated Press: “People are coming to the Fremont Street Experience and the question for the city was: What was it going to do to prepare for the fact that people were coming?”

Don’t Make Health Workers Pay the Price

Fremont Street Experience has declined to comment, but the official website hosting the event has said that people would need to keep a physical distance of six-feet from each other as well as wear masks. There will be no street performers or live music, but there will be the Slotzilla Zoomline spectacle as well as a light show to enjoy.  

Concerns have abounded about the timing of the event, with Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick warning that the event could push Las Vegas hospitals beyond the tipping point. As of Monday this week, 78% of ICU beds were occupied, and this is not the main issue, Kirkpatrick warned.

Overworked, tired and even shortage of medical personnel is, she added. Ultimately, it will be health workers who pay the price of this exuberance.

Last week, a planned party at Graton Resort and Casino in the Bay Area, California was canceled after word got out and the news elicited some disapproval from the general public.