The Las Vegas Strip is now a "hotspot" in more ways than one. Where before it was considered a top tourist destination, Las Vegas is gaining a new reputation as ground zero for COVID superspreader events.
According to the Harvard Global Health COVID-19 tracker, Nevada currently has the third-highest concentration of coronavirus cases in the nation. The vast majority of those cases are in Clark County, which houses Las Vegas—meaning the bulk of the state's 65,150 cases and 1,197 deaths have taken place within the Las Vegas City Limits.
A new study published by the nonprofit news outlet ProPublica looked at anonymized cell phone records of 26,000 individuals in Las Vegas and found that within four days' time, at least 8,000 of those cell phones had dispersed to all but one state in the continental U.S.
So, if you were considering a trip to The Strip, don't assume that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. No one wants COVID-19 as a souvenir.
