Someone ought to remind Las Vegas Mayor Carloyn Goodman of two things:
1) “What happens in Vegas…” doesn’t always stay in Vegas. Especially viruses.
2) The catchphrase was part of an ad campaign meant to lure tourists to Sin City, separate them from their money and send them home with memories — not in body bags.
In a nationally aired television interview the mayor said she would like to see everything in her city immediately opened for business again.
The stranglehold the COVID-19 pandemic has over her city — which does not include the infamous Las Vegas Strip —and the rest of the planet seems to hardly phase her.
“I’d love everything open because I think we’ve had viruses for years that have been here,” she is quoted as saying.
That will make a great novelty T-shirt in the airport and hotel gift shops: My parents went to Vegas and all I got was this virus which I have passed along to my unsuspecting friends and neighbors.
If there is a bright side to Goodman’s dismissive attitude toward the coronavirus’s severity it’s that she is willing to sacrifice her constituents for the sake of the rest of the country.
In re-opening the city Las Vegas could serve as a test case to see if social distancing was really working, she said. There’s another catchy slogan for the Las Vegas tourism board:
Everything is open. Let the chips — and bodies — fall where they may.
Thankfully the leadership in this part of the country is taking their responsibilities seriously.
While expressing sympathy for those who have lost their jobs, shuttered their businesses or are feeling angst for being asked to stay-at-home, the mayors of National City and Chula Vista seem resolute in prioritizing the public’s health ahead of all other concerns.
There hasn’t been a whiff of easing social distancing measures or rushing to reopen non-essential businesses simply for the sake of the economy. Instead they are taking measured approaches, going so far as to require the public to wear masks when outside. A mask doesn’t guarantee you won’t contract the coronavirus but it, along with social distancing, could help in preventing the spread.
Goodman would do well to follow the example of the National City and Chula Vista mayors. Doing so increases the odds of a quicker recovery.
