Amy Alonzo

Mason Valley News

Update, 4 p.m. Friday:

Fernley, Yerington and Lyon County goverment offices and departments are operating normally, according to city managers Daphne Hooper and Robert Switzer and Lyon County Manager Jeff Page.

Lyon County School District has cancelled all out-of-state and out-of-country district-sponsored travel, as well as all school, district, and non-district sponsored athletics, extra-curricular activities, assemblies, practices,and events effective March 16. until further notice.

Parent-teacher conferences scheduled for April 1-2 will proceed as scheduled.

Activities and events scheduled later in the school year, including graduation ceremonies, will be evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Original story:

More than a dozen rural Northern Nevada residents who have been quarantined on the Grand Princess cruise ship for possible COVID-19 will be returning to Carson City and Douglas and Lyon counties Tuesday.

Carson City Health and Human Services is coordinating the return of the 15 residents, who will be monitored for a 14-day period.

Statewide, 49 Nevadans were aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship, which has been circling off the coast of California for several days after a California resident who was on board the ship tested positive for COVID-19.

The residents are not showing symptoms of COVID-19 and will be staying in their homes for the 14-day monitoring period, according to Carson City Health and Human Services.

The return of the residents isn’t the only impact COVID-19 is having on rural northern Nevada counties.

An American Red Cross of Northern Nevada sheltering exercise scheduled for March 18 for the Quad-County region (Carson City and Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties) has been postponed.

“I’m hopeful that it will just get rescheduled, but really there is no telling what the whole outbreak situation will look like in a few weeks,” said Jill Hemenway, disaster program manager for the American Red Cross of Northern Nevada. “I’m super bummed but super mindful of congregating people and what we don’t know.”

The shelter exercise was scheduled for locations in both Douglas County and Carson City. It would have simulated opening shelters for up to 200 people and included feeding, pet and communication plans.

Lyon County was on board to provide a large animal rescue team and staging an area for livestock such as horses and sheep.

Lyon County’s animal services, human services, facilities department and sheriff’s office were all scheduled to participate.

“All four entities are very much wanting to do the exercise,” Lyon County Manager Jeff Page said. “It just had to do with hype about coronavirus and the staff from Quad County Public Health. They’re stressed to the max.”

Carson City Health and Human Services, the same entity overseeing the return of the residents from the Grand Princess cruise ship, serve as public health officers for the quad county area.

Amy Alonzo covers Mason Valley and rural Nevada. See her work right here. Here's how you can support local journalism.