Clark County COVID-19 numbers finish week with another increase

Clark County on Friday continued to see increases in most major COVID-19 metrics, reporting 519 new cases and 13 deaths.

That brought totals posted by the Southern Nevada Health District to 334,445 cases and 6,014 deaths.

New cases were well above the 14-day moving average, which increased by four to 328. Deaths were more than three times the moving average, which held steady at four fatalities per day.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county decreased by 15, to 508, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The county’s 14-day test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, increased by 0.1 percentage point to 5.9 percent.

The rate has been dropping steadily for months, but evened out during the week.

Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s preferred 7-day average, the number translates to 7.9 percent, a sign that the rate is on the rise in the county. It also leaves Clark County much further from exiting Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mask mandate than it was at the beginning of the week, when it dropped into the “substantial” risk rate of transmission for the first time since the mask mandate went into effect in July.

CDC data shows that the county now has a case rate of 122.16 per 100,000 people, a significant jump from the 92.69 reported on Monday. In order to get to the “moderate” transmission tier and exit the mask mandate, that number has to be below 50 per 100,000.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

Nevada, meanwhile, reported 796 new COVID-19 cases and 21 deaths over the preceding day. That brought state totals to 443,641 cases and 7,713 deaths.

Nevada’s 14-day moving average of new cases increased to 505, up from 497 on Thursday. The two-week average for fatalities also was unchanged at six per day.

State and county health agencies often redistribute daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, which is why the moving-average trend lines frequently differ from daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak.

Of the state’s other closely watched metrics, the two-week test positivity rate increased 0.1 percentage point to 6.7 percent, while the number of people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases dropped to 717, 22 less than on Thursday

As of Friday’s report, state data show that 56.56 percent of Nevadans 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, compared to 55.82 percent in Clark County.

That number fluctuates widely throughout the state. Washoe County has the state’s highest vaccination rate, at 65.62 percent, while Storey County has the lowest at 20.02 percent.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.