Source
r/vegas•
Funksultan

Vegas reporting Honesty/Morals

So (for those who aren't aware) Vegas has imho, the finest PR control on the planet. In this age where everyone has a phone, and news outlets can do a 20 minute piece on a package stolen from someone's doorstep, Vegas somehow manages to keep some key stories and statistics pretty hush-hush.

Suicides, Crime statistics both violent and non-violent... anything that happens around the strip or downtown gets little to no press coverage (for obvious reasons). It's understandable and frankly, amazing. It's one of the many factors that contribute to the image as "America's playground". (fwiw, Disney has the same policies and control)

It leads me to wonder if Corona cases are being given the same treatment.

On one hand, outbreaks in Vegas could have a ripple effect on the gambling/tourism industry that we haven't seen since 9/11, and it could possibly be much worse depending on the timeline.

On the other hand, unlike suicides or crime, the spread of COVID-19 can have a drastic effect on the rest of the country. It makes me question if this is falling under the "keep it quiet" policy that Vegas has cultivated so well.

(Apologies to the long time locals, who already know 90% of this story)

Posted Mar 12, 2020, 2:46 PM UTC

014
blorgenheim•

There is nothing to hide because nobody is being tested.

13
cubsguru•

^This, not enough testing kits=no official cases to report on. It's a national issue too, not just Nevada. I would too be skeptical of the RJ's reporting, but I'd trust the Nevada Independent to report on any new cases (and in fact they broke the first case story).

5
blorgenheim•

I have a friend whos kid is sick and they live in Oregon and they would not test his kid that was showing symptoms. They are only testing people who have had contact with people who are a confirmed case. Which of course is incredibly limited.

Monday in his state they are going to start testing people everywhere and I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see confirmed cases all over starting then.

3
May1ene•

MGM International broke the news they had an infected guest at The Mirage. So I'm not sure that plays into your theory. I think the goal is to keep the strip safe. There's lots of money in vegas, especially in the pockets of those guests on the strip. Making sure guest's know they're safe is the key to success.

4
feartrich•

Also, with disease outbreaks of this scale, honest bad news makes people more confident to do XYZ. Like some guy might think “hey MGM told me about this coronavirus patient, they’ll tell me about them in the future, we’re safe”.

Honestly, at this point, there’s nothing to gain by hiding information. So many people think it’s much more serious than being reported, you might as well be upfront and gain PR points by killing the speculation.

3
FunksultanOP•

That's my point. They announced one. ONE. Are there more? How many more?

In another city, I could have some degree of confidence. Because of the policies in LV, that confidence isn't quite there.

-2
stitchkingdom•

There’s 5 presumptive cases reported in Clark county currently.

3
SkiRV34P•

They are probably not telling the truth, or at least not the whole truth. Whatever information they do give is going to be portrayed in the light most favorable to them.

4
bulldozer6•

The CDC has the capacity to process between 300 and 350 tests a day. There are likely many cases all over the country that haven't been reported because so few tests are being performed.

3
FunksultanOP•

The tests have been distributed to hospitals in most major cities. They can be processed on-site for almost a week now.

-2†
Penistown64•

Why the downvotes? He's right, along with multiple institutions doing their own presumptive positive tests.

3
FunksultanOP•

Shhhhhh, Reddit wants to panic, just like everyone else. :)

(and of course, somehow make it political)

2
buxsbest•

" In February, the C.D.C. rolled out a three-step diagnostic test and distributed testing kits — each of which could run about 800 tests — to state and local health laboratories. But some of the components of the diagnostic kits were flawed, and produced inconclusive results.

A three-step replacement was promised but never arrived; the agency has not fully explained why, except to say that there was a manufacturing defect."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/us/coronavirus-testing-delays.html

u/Funksultan - nothing political, just government incompetence. They did send tests out but they didn't work, subsequently requiring samples to be shipped to the CDC for confirmation. They have a limited capacity and adds time to the process, allowing more spreading.

2
tplgigo•

Without enough testing thanks to Trump firing his virus response team some months ago and rejection of the genome for a vaccine from the WHO saying, "the US will find their own". Such arrogance on his part.....again.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1