Nevada COVID-19 hospitalizations at ‘record low,’ association says

Clark County’s COVID-19 metrics stayed relatively flat for the second straight week, as the Nevada Hospital Association reported “record low” statewide hospitalization numbers.

The disconnect between state and county case totals for Clark County continued, with the state reporting about 1,000 new cases for Clark County over the past week. The two-week moving average of daily new cases in the county increased slightly to 98, up from 91 last week.

For weeks, the state Department of Health and Human Services and the Southern Nevada Health District have showed different totals for the county. That’s because the health district is including reinfections, while the state is not, and because of reporting errors that officials have said are contributing to the disconnect.

While officials have said they’re working to correct the discrepancy, there is no timetable. The state announced Wednesday that it was canceling press briefings that had previously been scheduled for every other Thursday.

The county reported over 150 new deaths in Wednesday’s report, but the two-week moving average of daily deaths held at one.

State agencies report deaths when they are notified of them, and many of the new deaths reported did not occur during the past week. The county has reported 8,355 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to numbers in Wednesday’s report.

As has been the case for weeks, the number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county continued to dropped, from 111 last week to 87.

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention showed Clark County continued to be in the “low” community transmission level, with a case rate of 37.1 per 100,000 people. That was below the 39.4 reported at this time last week.

State and county health agencies often redistribute the 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.

Meanwhile, the state reported about 1,000 new cases, bringing the cumulative total to 661,202. The state also reported an increase of about 180 deaths, but only two of those actually occurred in the past week, according to state data.

The two-week moving average of daily new cases increased by five, to 119.

Hospitalizations also dropped, from 126 last week to 104.

“COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline throughout Nevada, reaching record low numbers,” the hospital association said in its weekly release. “Statewide, the COVID patient count requiring ICU level care is only 17 individuals. Zero COVID cases require hospitalization within the rural (96,000 square miles) region.”

As of Wednesday, state data showed that 57.13 percent of Nevadans five and older were considered fully vaccinated, compared with 56.47 percent in Clark County.

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