Nevada adds 1.4K-plus COVID cases, 18 deaths; positivity rate ticks up

Nevada on Friday reported 1,407 new coronavirus cases and 18 additional deaths over the preceding day, capping a week in which three of the state’s four main COVID-19 metrics declined.

Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 394,595 cases and 6,583 deaths since the pandemic began.

New cases were again higher than the two-week moving average of daily recorded cases, which decreased from 899 to 892. That is still well below the rate’s recent high of 1,120 on Aug. 17, reflecting a slow but steady decline in the metric since then.

Deaths also remained higher than the moving 14-day average, which remained unchanged at 14 per day. The average also has been dropped from its recent peak of 17 per day on Aug. 18.

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.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, increased by 0.1 percentage point on Friday, to 12.3 percent. The rate has been trending down from its recent peak of 16.4 percent on Aug. 14, and this was only the second time since Aug. 14 it ticked higher, state data shows.

As of Friday’s report, there were 1,133 people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, seven more than the day prior, state data shows. Although daily hospitalization numbers vary day to day, totals remain lower than the recent peak reports a few weeks ago.

Progress seen over week

Week over week numbers also showed signs of statewide progress.

The 14-day average for daily new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and the test positivity rate all declined. New cases were down nearly 3.67 percent, from 926 to 892; hospitalizations dropped more than 6 percent, from 1,210 on Aug. 27 to 1,133 in Friday’s report; and the state’s average two-week positivity rate fell from 13.7 percent to 12.3 percent over the period.

Only deaths resisted the trend over the past week, remaining unchanged at a two-week average of 14 per day. Because deaths usually occur weeks or even months after a patient becomes sick, the deaths metric is a lagging indicator and is likely to remain high for weeks to come, experts say.

The state recorded 150 deaths over the past week, the third time in the last four weeks it has hit that threshold, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal. The highest of the three — 155 deaths recorded from Aug. 8-14 — was the deadliest week since 174 fatalities were reported from Feb. 14-20.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

The continuing outbreak in the state, fueled by the more-contagious delta variant of the new coronavirus, looks very different than it did a month ago, with transmission of the disease generally slowing in Southern Nevada and worsening in the northern part of the state.

About 47 percent of new cases reported Friday occurred outside Clark County, which during earlier points in the pandemic represented the vast majority of cases. Washoe County, which has seen increasing numbers in recent weeks, again recorded a test positivity rate of 18.8 percent, significantly higher than the state’s overall rate.

Nye County, which had a test positivity rate of 25.9 percent as of Friday’s report, is an exception to the trend.

Michelle White, chief of staff to Gov. Steve Sisolak, said Thursday that the county’s higher positivity rate can be attributed to inconsistent adherence to face mask guidelines and the county’s lower vaccination rates.

As of Friday’s report, 38.19 percent of eligible Nevadans in Nye County have been vaccinated, compared with 52.23 percent statewide (up 1.88 percentage points in the past week) and 51.49 percent in Clark County.

The Southern Nevada Health District, meanwhile, reported 748 new coronavirus cases and 28 additional deaths over the previous day in Clark County.

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Totals in the county rose to 306,149 cases and 5,265 deaths.

Growth seen in breakthrough cases

The health district also reported that 7,634 people fully vaccinated people in the county had tested positive for COVID-19, up from 7,084 a week prior. The breakthrough cases represent about 0.54 percent of fully vaccinated people in the county.

Of the breakthrough cases, 362 resulted in hospitalization, up from 349 the week prior. There were 112 breakthrough cases that resulted in death, up from 104 the week prior, according to the health district data.

More breakthrough cases have been identified in recent months, according to the data. In June, 11.59 percent of all cases in Clark County were breakthrough cases, a figure that rose to 17.43 percent in August.

The county’s two-week test positivity rate remained unchanged Friday at 10.8 percent.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.