New COVID-19 cases fall in Clark County, but hospitalizations rise

Clark County on Tuesday reported 527 new coronavirus cases and 13 deaths during the preceding day, as hospitalizations continued to creep higher.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District showed totals for Clark County increasing to 338,693 cases and 6,086 deaths.

New cases were well above the two-week moving average of 309 per day, while the longer-term measure dropped by 25 cases per day from Monday’s report, state data showed. The two-week moving average of daily fatalities in the county was unchanged at four.

The county’s test positivity rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.9 percent.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county increased by 10, to 569.

All four key COVID-19 metrics for the county have been falling fairly steadily since mid- to late-August and are well below the levels seen during the summer surge of the disease in the state.

But some concerning signs have emerged since the beginning of November, with new cases, test positivity rate and hospitalizations all increasing.

The county’s test positivity rate translated to 7.66 percent using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s preferred seven-day average, putting the county in the “substantial” risk of transmission category for that metric.

The county’s case rate per 100,000 people stood at 121.45 as of Tuesday afternoon, higher than at this time last week. That level is considered as posing a “high” risk of transmission by the CDC.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

For a county to exit the state mask mandate for crowded indoor public spaces, it must record back-to-back weeks with a seven-day average case rate of under 50 per 100,000 residents and a test positivity under 8 percent — both considered as posing a “moderate” risk of transmission by the CDC.

State officials on Tuesday confirmed that all of Nevada will remain under the mask mandate for at least another week, though there were some encouraging signs in the CDC data. Eureka County, Humboldt County and Lander County were rated in the “substantial” category, while Esmeralda County was rated in the “low” risk tier.

All other counties were in the “high” transmission tier. If Esmeralda County can maintain its status in the “low” risk tier for another week, the mask mandate will be removed in the county.

The state Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, reported 855 new COVID-19 cases and 28 deaths during the preceding day. That brought totals for the Silver State to 450,186 cases and 7,872 deaths.

Nevada’s 14-day moving average of new cases decreased to 475 per day from 509 on Tuesday. The two-week average for fatalities held steady at seven 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 state’s two-week test positivity rate was unchanged at 7.6 percent, while the number of people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases dropped to 725, two fewers than on Monday.

As of Tuesday’s report, state data show that 56.99 percent of Nevadans 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, compared to 56.28 percent in Clark County. That number fluctuates widely throughout the state.

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