Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

Note: The story was changed to clarify the Nevada Department of Corrections is developing a procedure to screen inmates for the corona virus and that the procedure does not need approval from Gov. Steve Sisolak.

The Nevada Department of Corrections has temporarily suspended visitation at all institutions, camps and transitional housing centers in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the NDOC, visitations are suspended until further notice, and the move was made as a “precautionary measure only.”

“Once closed, all of the visitation centers will be thoroughly sanitized,” officials said on the department’s website.

Officials said only attorneys and other legal visits will be allowed. The areas where legal visitations occur will be sanitized after each visit.

Scott Kelley, NDOC spokesman, said Tuesday the department is developing a screening procedure for inmates.

In Las Vegas, the Clark County Department of Corrections issued a list of new procedures in response to the spread of coronavirus. They include:

Each inmate is being screened for exposure. Those who are asymptomatic but have traveled will be screened for 14 days and tracked by medical services.

Officers have been trained to recognize symptoms and will contact medical services when inmates appear to be ill.

The inmate population is learning recommended sanitation practices.

Inmates are cleaning housing environments. Module workers are cleaning all common areas multiple times per day.

Common areas are being cleaned more frequently. This includes the front lobby and visitation booths.

Visitation is conducted through video conferencing, which are being cleaned routinely.

-- Marcella Corona and Ed Komenda

Las Vegas-area VA hospital asks staff to self-quarantine

LAS VEGAS – The VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas has directed staff members to self-quarantine at home after they treated a patient testing “presumptive positive” for COVID-19 coronavirus.

The direction came “out of an abundance of caution,” said Charles Ramey, chief of public affairs at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.

“A list of these individuals was given to the Southern Nevada Health District, so they could contact each individual, assess their risk of exposure, and provide follow-on instructions,” Ramey said in a statement to the USA TODAY Network.

The patient in their care represented the first positive coronavirus case in Nevada: A 50-year-old Clark County man in serious condition who had traveled to Texas and Washington.

The staff members that cared for the man have not yet displayed any symptoms of COVID-19.

Ramey did not release how many members have self-quarantined.

“Out of respect for HIPAA and individual privacy, we will not be providing any additional information on these individuals,” Ramey said.

-- Ed Komenda

Washoe County coronavirus case confirmed

Washoe County's first case of COVID-19 has been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control, Washoe County Health Officer Kevin Dick announced at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

A second man in Washoe County who tested presumptively positive is awaiting confirmation from the CDC. Dick said it appears the turnaround for confirmation from the federal government is about four days.

That confirmed case, a man in his 50s, had sailed on the first leg of a voyage on the Grand Princess cruise ship. That same ship was held off the coast of California for five days after 21 passengers and crew tested positive for the virus.

At the press conference, Dick also pleaded with people to stop spreading rumors and make sure they are verifying sources of information.

On Monday, clothing company Patagonia sent home its entire Reno workforce after an employee incorrectly said his roommate contracted the virus.

"It's something we should be concerned about, and we should be taking appropriate precautionary and appropriate measures to prepare, but it's important that we approach this in a calm way, that we not panic about what's going on," Dick said.

Dick said his department is also coordinating with the state to get Northern Nevada's portion of the 49 Grand Princess passengers from the Silver State back home. He would not say how many of those passengers were from the north part of the state.

In California, Sacramento, Yolo and Placer counties on Tuesday also announced they would no longer be recommending that people who come in contact with COVID-19 cases be quarantined for 14 days.

The move marks a transition in those counties from attempts to control the spread of the disease to mitigating its effects on the most vulnerable to it.

Dick said Washoe County was not yet at that point.

On Monday, Nevada State Assemblyman Jim Wheeler, R-Minden, tweeted that he was astounded by the "irrational fear" stoked by COVID-19, which he called "not as dangerous as the flu."

Dick, the county's top health official, said he believed the fear surrounding COVID-19 is understandable.

But that fear should not be paralyzing, he said.

"I think it's understandable that people have fear of something like this that we haven't seen in our lifetime, and it's compounded when you see the news (of) cities shutting down in other countries and you see things like what happened with the stock market the other day," he said. "Those are all things that affect us when we see that going on and it does cause people to become fearful."

Original story:

The 49 Nevadans on board a cruise ship will be allowed to return to the Silver State as long as they are not displaying symptoms of coronavirus and agree to certain terms.

The Grand Princess was held off the California coast for five days after 21 passengers tested positive for the virus. On Monday, the ship docked in Oakland and authorities began the process of repatriating passengers back to their home states.

As of Tuesday, none of the 49 Nevadans are displaying symptoms, according to a release from the state department of health and human services. In order to return, those passengers must be tested for COVID-19 and will board a secure flight that will bring them back to Nevada.

Once here, they will remain under a mandated 14-day quarantine.

Story continues below

No specifics on how many passengers coming to Northern Nevada

How many of those passengers are returning to Reno-Sparks won't be divulged by state or local authorities, Washoe County Health Officer Kevin Dick said during a press briefing on Tuesday. Dick said they are residents of Washoe County and other counties — Dick didn't specify which ones.

To ensure those 49 Nevadans stay quarantined for that 14-day period, Dick said those people could face criminal penalties if they violate it. The health district will also monitor those people during the quarantine, Dick said.

Dick also couldn't disclose which airport the people returning to Northern Nevada would fly into.

First case in Washoe tied to cruise ship

Washoe County's first COVID-19 case is tied to a 50-year-old man who sailed on a previous voyage of the Grand Princess, disembarking just before this most recent cruise.

Federal authorities had originally planned to send the passengers to military bases across the country to complete the 14-day quarantine, but Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak's office has been working to get them home in lieu of that plan, according to the release.

Coronavirus in Nevada:Timeline of virus' presence in Reno, statewide

Originally, the governor's office had asked if the quarantine could be completed on military bases in Nevada, but that plan was denied.

The federal government later agreed to let Nevadans come back to the state only if the following conditions are met:

Passengers must not be displaying symptoms of COVID-19

They must be tested for COVID-19 before boarding a secure flight back to Nevada. The results of those tests will be provided to local health districts

Passengers must return to the state in an isolated manner that limits exposure to the general public

They will remain under supervision for the 14-day isolation period immediately upon their return

Passengers that meet that criteria will be flown home on a secure flight provided by the federal government and they will not enter any buildings of a commercial airport in the state.

They will then be securely transported from the airport to their homes.

Those passengers will also be required to sign a declaration of self quarantine upon arrival.

——

Sam Gross is a breaking news reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal who covers wildfires, emergencies and more. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com.