Caleb Cage started a new job, Monday. He became the State of Nevada COVID-19 Response Director, where he will advise Gov. Steve Sisolak and coordinate with federal, state, local and tribal leaders.

"The decision-makers at every level of government are committed to safely reopening, are committed to doing what is necessary to make sure we can reopen the economy, making sure we can do it safely and without taking unnecessary risks," Cage said.

Cage served as the head of the State Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. He spent four years there before taking a job at the Nevada System of Higher Education. Most recently, he spent the last seven weeks as the Incident Commander of the state's COVID-19 Response.

“Mr. Cage has proven invaluable to the State in its effort to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Sisolak-D, Nevada said. "This new, expanded role will help propel the State of Nevada forward as we continue our gradual, phased-in reopening and fortify our response to this unprecedented public health crisis."

Cage says the state has come along way in the last two months. His last role included logistics and communications. He helped get people and supplies where they needed to be. That included securing personal protective equipment for medical workers.

"PPE for every front-line worker, masks for people at grocery stores and gas stations and everyone else throughout," Cage said.

He says there is still problems with the supply chain because everyone in the world is trying to get the same supplies.

"I think we're doing a lot better," Cage said. "We're finding some new sources of that PPE. We're finding new sources for the testing kits as well, and expanding our warehouse footprint and our ability to distribute from those warehouses as well."

Cage says testing will be one of the most critical elements of reopening Nevada's businesses. Testing capacity has increased, exponentially since March. He credits Dr. Mark Pandori and the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory for increasing testing.

They went from having a day-to-day mission for disease surveillance in the state to being one of the primary, if not the primary lab for processing COVID-19 cases," Cage said. "They went from 100 or hundreds of tests a day to being able to do 3,000 tests a day. It's extraordinary what they've done."

Testing capacity relies on the number of collection kits, the ability to test them, and contact tracing, which helps track down the people who have come into contact with people who have tested positive for the virus. That will help create data for leaders who make the decisions.

"We have to be able to know what the behavior of the virus is and those three components," Cage said. "We call them lines of effort that are essential to being able to make those decisions."

Cage also worked with the Nevada National Guard as it activated more people. He says Gen. Ondra Berry is the right leader at the right time to help handle the crisis, and that the national guard is an essential part of the process.

"We're seeing national guard members supply food distribution centers, resource distribution centers for logistics," Cage said. "Every aspect of what we're doing is being augmented by the national guard."

The new COVID-19 Response Director says his experience in emergency management and his relationships will help him in his new role.

"It's cliche in emergency management that it's all about relationships but it's also true," Cage said.

He says Nevada has come a long way but there is still a lot of work to do. He credit's Sisolak's leadership for a lot of the state's progress.

"I probably wouldn't have taken this role if I hadn't seen the governor and his team taking this so seriously," Cage said.

Nevadans are dealing with the financial fallout of business closures, the transition of students doing distance learning, and the threat of a virus that has infected 7,042 Nevadans and killed 373.

"There's no doubt about it. This is hard and this is a really dramatic crisis that we face and that the world faces right now," Cage said. "I'm extremely proud of the resilience that I'm seeing day-to-day. All of us have had our lives disrupted by this with a spirit that I think is associated with the Nevada that says 'This is who we are. We can come back from this.'"

Cage has goals and expectations in his new role. He says coordinating and implementing the governor's strategy is critical, as well as securing supplies and continuing to increase testing capacity.

"Being able to do those things is how I will measure my success," Cage said. "Being able to do that effectively and as quickly as possible so that we can implement the governor's full strategy for reopening the state."

 

 

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