Nevada reports 380 new coronavirus cases, 2 deaths

Nevada health officials reported 380 new coronavirus cases in the state and two additional deaths on Sunday.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 85,799 and the death toll to 1,661, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website. Of the new cases reported Sunday, 308 were from Clark County.

The Southern Nevada Health District reported one additional death in the county. The latest figures bring the county’s positive case total to 71,633 and the death toll to 1,439.

Sunday’s number of new cases was much lower than the previous two days. Officials on Friday announced 766 new cases, partially attributed to delayed laboratory testing, followed by 806 cases on Saturday.

The infection rate, calculated by the Review-Journal as the number of cases divided by the number of people who have been tested, was unchanged at 11.64 percent on Sunday. The rate, which is considered to be a better indicator of the outbreak than daily cases or death totals, has been slowly increasing since mid-September.

The state health department, which calculates the positivity rate based on the number of total tests administered, reported a cumulative rate of 9.7 percent on Sunday, where the percentage has been since Wednesday. The state’s methodology yields lower figures because many people get tested multiple times, increasing the numbers upon which the percentages are based, which in turn lowers the percentages.

Contact Alex Chhith at achhith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0290. Follow @alexchhith on Twitter.