BACKGROUND
COVID-19 was identified as a pandemic across the United States
on March 11, 2020 and has grown to be a critical issue with
extensive impacts for the entire nation. This significant public
health and economic event served as a severe shock to the entire
community.
Public Health Impacts
As of July 1, 2020, there have been 16,180 cases, 2,033
hospitalizations and 432 deaths reported in Clark County. Of those,
it is estimated that 1,417 Henderson residents contracted the virus.
Economic Impacts
Additionally, because of the region’s reliance on the hospitality and
tourism industry, Southern Nevada rapidly became the epicenter
of an economic crisis. Unemployment rose from 3.5% in February
to 34% in April, with early estimates indicating over 1 in 3 residents
in Southern Nevada will experience unemployment in the month
of May. With peak filing of over 33,000 Henderson residents filing
for unemployment two consecutive weeks in May, it is clear that
Henderson residents were directly impacted by the mandatory
closures of businesses throughout the State and region. The
projected job loss as a share of total private sector employment in
Nevada could be as high as 14.2%.1
TOGETHER WE CAN: A PRIMER FOR RECOVERY 7
Figure 1 : COVID-19 cases by ZIP code.
COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE AND
SUSTAINABILITY
The City of Henderson’s
Disaster Recovery Plan
describes a successful
recovery framework as one
that promotes practices
that seek to minimize a
community’s risk of future
impacts from all hazards as
well as strengthens its ability
to withstand and bounce back
from future disasters, which
constitutes the community’s
resilience. Resilience and
sustainability relate to all
aspects of a community,
including:
• Comprehensive and
all-inclusive planning
processes that engages the
community;
• Thriving economies with
diversified and sustainable
industries;
• Healthy families and high-quality
educational systems;
• Access to affordable and
safe housing and services;
• Infrastructure that
stimulates economic growth
and provides for future City
needs; and
• Protection of the natural,
historical, and cultural
resources that make
Henderson a great place to
live, learn, work , play and
visit.