(The Center Square) – A newly released report from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (NV DHHS) said it may take a long time to recover from the economic, education and behavioral health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While states have comparable stories, Nevada had over 900,000 cases, and more than 12,000 people died in the state.

Meanwhile, businesses were shuttered, especially in 2020, after Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state of emergency.

Jobs and wages suffered as a result.

The damage was so extensive that researchers say “most industrial sectors were negatively impacted by the number of jobs and wages that were lost due to these closures.”

Even though remote learning helped combat the spread of COVID-19, NV DHHS said it caused problems for school-age children.

“The impact of remote learning can be seen through student’s assessment results on the NAEP and the ACT,” says the report. 

“Symptoms of the Disease: The Epidemiological, Economic, and Public Health Impacts of COVID-19 on the Battle Born State.”

Students in elementary school had the biggest problems, with scores dropping just over six points for fourth graders. Middle and high school students were also found to have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, but NV DHHS says it was not to the same extent.

Geoffrey Lawrence, Director of Research at Nevada Policy Research Institute, said restrictions on personal freedom implemented by then-Gov. Steve Sisolak represented a panicked attempt by his administration to respond to one type of risk while ignoring all other risks.

“In reality, we live in a world of numerous uncertainties, but people have been able to adapt to these uncertainties by developing elaborate, entrepreneurial systems to produce and deliver to people the things they need to overcome the challenges presented by the natural world,” said Lawrence.

In pre-modern times, Lawrence says pestilence, famine and disease were all quite common events, to say nothing of the reduced quality of life individuals experienced for lack of education, individual rights, or material abundance.

Nevada’s response to the pandemic harkened back to this pre-modernity by embracing what Lawrence calls “fear of a new uncertainty as a rationale to break all the systems society has developed” to grapple with these many other existing uncertainties.

“It’s therefore no surprise that economic uncertainty abounded, student achievement plummeted, deaths of despair surged, and hundreds of thousands of previously self-sufficient Nevadans were left to rely on a dysfunctional public support system that couldn’t even process claims timely just to meet their basic needs,” said Lawrence. 

“A better role for government during COVID would always have been to advise and inform of the risks inherent with the disease so that free individuals could take the precautions they deemed necessary.”

For example, Lawrence said it was known very early on that people had different risk profiles based on things such as age and health status.

They also had different risk tolerance. 

Because of this, Lawrence argues that an informed populace would have been able to weigh this new risk against a wide variety of existing risks we all face on a daily basis.

“Elderly individuals and those with existing comorbidities could have been encouraged to take extra precaution, without prohibiting young children from attending school, for instance.”

BOULDER CITY, NV (AZFamily) — Two people are behind bars in Nevada after investigators said they led Arizona troopers and Nevada police on a chase in a stolen RV on Tuesday.

According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, someone reported a stolen motorhome heading south on U.S. 93 in the White Hills area just before 6 p.m.

Troopers found the motorhome about 33 miles south of the original report in Golden Valley, roughly 10 miles northwest of Kingman.

DPS said troopers tried to pull over Joshua Bailey and a woman in the RV and they pulled to the right side of the highway.

But then the two took off, heading south again.

Troopers said they tried a spike strip to stop the RV but it wasn’t successful.

Bailey then drove through the median and headed north, DPS said.

DPS said it stopped chasing the pair in the White Hills area, but troopers in the DPS helicopter kept following them through northern Arizona and into Nevada.

Bailey and the woman made their way into Boulder City, which is about 26 miles southeast of Las Vegas, around 7 p.m.

The Boulder City Police Department said National Park Service law enforcement rangers set up spike strips several times to stop the motorhome, but they didn’t work.

NPS, DPS and BCPD continued to chase the pair in the city when investigators said the unidentified woman jumped out of the RV while Bailey was driving.

She was taken into custody.

Bailey allegedly continued through city streets and into a trailhead. Police said he ditched the RV near U.S 93 and Canyon Road and rode off on a bicycle he had inside the motorhome.

DPS troopers in their helicopter tracked him as he rode through neighborhoods.

Boulder City officers found him and arrested him about 1.5 miles away from the RV.

A BCPD was taken to the hospital for minor injuries and later released.

Bailey was booked into jail on multiple charges, including reckless driving, driving with a suspended license and evading a peace officer.

He also faces charges for alleged crimes in another Nevada city and recommended charges from DPS about possible crimes in Arizona, BCPD said.

The woman was booked into jail on an outstanding warrant from another Nevada county.

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LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Two fallen Nevada State Police troopers are being honored in a special way.

On Monday, the Nevada Department of Transportation unveiled memorial signs in honor of Sergeant Michael Abbate and Trooper Alberto Felix.

According to Nevada State Police, Abbate’s sign is near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, recognizing his racing days and contributions as the department’s leading emergency vehicle driver instructor.

Felix’s sign is near Craig Road and Nellis Air Force Base, where he served in the United States Air Force before joining Nevada State Police.

Nevada State Police

The two were killed in the line of duty back in November.

A police report states they had pulled over to check on a drunk driver. When the troopers got out of their vehicles, they were hit by a white Chevrolet HHR, which then left the scene.

After doing a grid search, Las Vegas police were able to locate the vehicle at a nearby apartment complex and identified the suspect as 46-year-old Jamarcus Williams.

Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of DUI on April 30 and last week, he was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors noted that with these charges, Williams is not eligible for probation. The judge also ordered Williams to pay restitution and court fees.

Williams told the court he is accepting responsibility for his actions and the consequences.

WATCH: Full sentencing hearing for Jamarcus Williams

Man guilty of state trooper hit-and-run deaths sentenced to up to 40 years