Most Clark County COVID metrics trending higher in November

Clark County ended the week on a positive note, reporting below-average daily totals of new COVID-19 cases and deaths on Friday. But disease metrics for the week indicate the county is experiencing at least a minor surge of the disease after more than two months of steady declines.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District showed 270 COVID-19 cases and no deaths in the county during the previous day, bringing totals to 337,079 cases and 6,049 deaths.

New cases were well below the two-week moving average of 335 cases per day, while the average climbed by five from Wednesday’s report — the most recent day it could be calculated because the state did not update its COVID-19 data on the Veterans Day holiday.

The two-week average of deaths per day remained unchanged at three, state data showed.

The county’s test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, continued its recent rise, jumping by 0.3 percentage points from Wednesday to 6.6 percent. The rate has now risen nearly a full percentage point from its recent low of 5.8 percent on Nov. 1.

Hospitalizations of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases also rose, with 552 individuals occupying beds in the county, 15 more than in Wednesday’s report.

Double-digit increases in last 2 weeks

All four major disease metrics for the county began declining in mid- to late-August, and continued downward through September and October. But as the calendar turned to November, most began to slowly rise.

That trend became clearer in the past week, as the two-week moving average of new cases increased just over 2 percent from Nov. 5, while the positivity rate jumped nearly 12 percent and the number of hospitalizations rose by nearly 9 percent.

Only deaths — a lagging indicator of the direction of the outbreak — resisted the trend, falling from a 14-day average of four per day to three.

Since Oct. 27, the average for new cases is now more than 14 percent higher, the positivity rate is up by 10 percent and hospitalizations by 100 patients.

Fatalities again were the lone bright spot, falling from five to three per day during the period.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

State and local health officials this week declined to characterize the recent rise in three of four key COVID metrics as a surge of the disease, but acknowledged the upward trend and said they were watching it closely.

The health district also updated its reporting on so-called “breakthrough” cases in Clark County on Friday.

It showed 430 new breakthrough cases — those in which fully vaccinated individuals nonetheless contract the disease — 20 hospitalizations and five deaths in the county over the past week, pushing totals to 12,125 infections, 607 hospitalizations and 195 deaths.

Data back vaccination claims

Public health officials say that vaccination is the best protection against developing a serious case of COVID-19, and the county statistics back that up: The COVID-19 death rate among the fully vaccinated is 17 per 100,000 residents, compared to 487 out of 100,000 residents for the unvaccinated, the state data show.

After not updating COVID-19 figures on Veterans Day, Nevada on Friday logged 1,285 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths over the previous two days. That pushed state totals to 447,746 cases and 7,808 fatalities.

Averaged over two days, new cases were well above the two-week moving average of 505 cases per day, while the average increased by three from Wednesday’s report.

Fatalities from the disease caused by the new coronavirus were slightly below the daily average of six per day when averaged over two days, while the longer-term measure was unchanged from Wednesday.

The number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients hospitalizations across the state stood at 743 as of Friday, up 26 from Wednesday.

The state test positivity rate also increased by 0.3 percentage points, hitting 7.4 percent. Like Clark County’s rate, the state rate has increased 0.8 percentage points from its recent low of 6.6 percent on Nov. 3.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickytwrites.