LAS VEGAS - The food service provider at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas says it will lay off 940 employees, the organization said in a letter to Nevada officials.

HMSHost sent a letter to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation about the decisions on Tuesday. The group also said that any workers that were furloughed and not scheduled to return to work by Oct. 15 will also be let go.

Most of the layoffs are for those working as fast food clerks, restaurant hosts, baristas, bartenders and servers.

Food and retail outlets at the airport have been severely affected by the pandemic, which has greatly diminished air travel. Though some outlets at McCarran have reopened with limited hours, many of them remain closed.

“HMSHost continues to see an unprecedented decline in traffic in airports and on the motorways,” the company’s letter said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the travel and restaurant industries and, unfortunately, HMSHost sits at the crossroads of both. Never in the history of aviation and the hospitality industry, have we experienced such catastrophic customer traffic declines.”

In another development, state officials on Saturday reported 859 additional confirmed coronavirus cases with 24 additional deaths, increasing Nevada's totals to 60,608 cases and 1,069 deaths.

According to Johns Hopkins University data analyzed by The Associated Press, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Nevada dropped over the past two weeks while the seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Nevada rose over the same period.

The average of new cases per day went from 1,029 on July 31 to 745 on Aug. 14. The average of daily deaths per day went from 15 on July 31 to 18 on Aug. 14.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

News from © The Associated Press, 2020