New COVID-19 cases drop below 100 in Clark County

Daily new cases of COVID-19 dropped below 100 in Clark County for the first time since September, reaching some of the lowest reported levels since the start of the pandemic, according to data released by the state on Wednesday.

The 14-day average for confirmed daily new cases in the county dipped to 93 from the prior week’s 104, according to data from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Statewide, the average declined to 123 from 132. Results from at-home rapid tests are not reported to the state, meaning that actual case numbers are significantly higher.

Case numbers have been dropping for weeks in the U.S., despite the growing prevalence of a new, especially transmissible omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5 – or “kraken,” as it’s been nicknamed.

XBB.1.5 accounts for an estimated 61 percent of all U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the first time its proportion has risen to more than half of U.S. cases.

CDC estimates that in the region of the U.S. that includes Nevada, XBB.1.5 represents 35 percent of cases.

New COVID-19 cases across the country declined by 11.3 percent from the previous week, the most recent CDC data shows. Health authorities say that by now, most people have built up some level of immunity to COVID-19 through vaccination or prior infection.

Nevada, Arizona, Washington and the District of Columbia are the only jurisdictions in the U.S. to have all counties at low community levels for COVID-19, a CDC designation based on case numbers and hospitalizations.

COVID-19 hospitalizations are declining both locally and nationally.

Data from the Nevada health department shows that confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations declined in Clark County to 128 from the prior week’s 226. Statewide, hospitalizations decreased to 161 from 248.

Nationwide, new COVID-19 hospital admissions declined by 14 percent over the prior week, according to the CDC.

In Nevada, COVID-19 hospital admissions remain relatively flat, the Nevada Hospital Association said. Nine percent of hospital emergency department visits, a proportion that has been declining, are for COVID-19 symptoms, the trade group said in a weekly report.

Statewide, hospitalizations for other respiratory viruses such as flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) continue to decline, the hospital association said.

The 14-day average for daily new COVID-19 deaths has fallen to zero in Clark County from last week’s one. Statewide, the average remains one.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.