Washoe County is getting close to moving up to purple on the COVID-19 risk dial indicating “severe risk” of virus transmission. The area, which has seen a significant rise in COVID-19 cases for nine weeks now has been in the red zone since Halloween. That’s left Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve begging city residents to take the virus seriously – by wearing masks and modifying their behavior. She could consider new restrictions on top of what the state’s imposed-but says she’ll make her decisions based on the data. The COVID-19 surge has left hospitals working on contingency plans as they face both staffing and capacity concerns.