rollingstone | “What I assume is that everybody is a coronavirus carrier — that 100
percent of our population is asymptomatic, but a carrier.” Goodman
continued, “My whole opinion is: Get our people back to work.”
Goodman said that the city needs to protect people’s health while
reopening, adding, “Most importantly, take care of our elderly, who are
the most susceptible to having a terrible experience or perhaps even
dying. And we love our seniors. I happen to be a senior!”
Tur asked how that protection can be preserved when an open and
successful Vegas means crowded casinos with smokers, people touching
slot machines, and people breathing recycled air, seemingly making them
all more susceptible to the coronavirus.
“How do you keep people safe? Do you think it’s possible?” Tur asked.
“Well, absolutely,” Goodman answered. The mayor then rattled off a
list of previous epidemics that did not close Vegas without using any
context or expressing any knowledge as to why those should compare to
the extreme contagion the coronavirus has proven to be.
“We’ve survived the West Nile and SARS, bird flu, E. coli, the swine flu, the Zika virus,” Goodman said.
Tur interjected, saying, “Those were not as contagious, and they did not spread as far as this disease has already done.”
To which Goodman astonishingly replied, “Well, we’ll find out the
facts afterward. Unfortunately, we all do better in hindsight.”
“But those are the facts. We have a death toll that proves it,” Tur responded.
As Tur continued to push Goodman, the mayor downplayed the number of
cases in Nevada, saying that with more than 3 million citizens, “we have
151, sadly, lost individuals, most of whom had pre-existing
conditions.”
