Nevada drops below key 5% COVID positivity rate

For the first time since June 19, Nevada on Saturday reported dropping below the 5 percent positivity rate the World Health Organization says governments should hit for 14 straight days before beginning to reopen.

The two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are confirmed to be infected, decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 4.9 percent. The rate had been above 21 percent as recently as January.

Brian Labus, an infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor at UNLV, said the decreasing positivity rate is a great milestone but not the end of the pandemic. He recommended that people continue to get vaccinated as the eligibility opens to all Nevadans over the age of 16 in early April.

“I’m more concerned with the greater Las Vegas community than I am with the Strip in terms of the risks of reopening,” Labus said. “It’s important that people continue to wear masks and social distance as we work to slow the spread of this disease. People need to continue thinking every day about how they can keep themselves and others safe.”

The state reported 271 new coronavirus cases and 10 additional deaths, with both metrics remaining above recent averages for the third day in a row, according to state data.

Updated figures posted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 300,951 cases and 5,171 deaths.

Nevada’s new cases were well above the moving 14-day average of daily reported cases of 206. Fatalities were also well above the moving two-week average of five per day, the state data showed.

Despite the recent above-average daily reports, all major disease metrics have been trending lower in the state since mid-January or earlier, health officials have said.

State and county health agencies often redistribute 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.

As of Thursday, the data also showed 309 people in Nevada were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. The figure peaked at 2,126 on Dec. 22, according to state data.

There were 213 new cases and five deaths reported Saturday in Clark County. Cumulative totals for the county rose to 232,595 cases and 4,048 deaths.

A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that Nevada’s test positivity rate dropped below 5 percent for the first time Saturday. It also incorrectly attributed state hospitalization data from Thursday to Saturday.

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.