Nevada reports 405 new coronavirus cases, 7 deaths over 3-day period

Nevada on Monday reported 405 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths over the preceding three days.

The state Department of Health and Human Services posted the updated data covering Friday through Sunday on the state’s coronavirus website. It was the sixth report since the state stopped reporting COVID-19 metrics over the weekend.

Public health officials have said the reports on Monday and possibly Tuesday will typically be inflated as a result of the delayed reporting.

New cases continued to trend lower, with the two-week moving average of daily cases declining from 168 on Friday to 161 in Monday’s report.

The new report pushed the state’s case total to 322,757.

Deaths from COVID-19 were above the two-week moving average when spread over three days. The latest fatalities brought the state’s death toll to 5,559. The two-week moving average for daily fatalities stayed at two.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, dropped 0.2 percentage points to 4.5 percent, according to state data.

The rate has been inching lower since its most recent crest to 5.9 percent on April 17, the data show.

The data also showed 257 people with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized in the state, a decrease of eight from the last state report on Friday.

Clark County increased to 80 percent capacity limit on May 1 and changed the social distancing protocols from 6 feet to 3 feet. State officials have said they expect to see cases increase after restrictions are relaxed, though the state’s key metrics for the disease have trended lower since the move.

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 Southern Nevada Health District reported 338 new cases in Clark County for Friday through Sunday, bringing the local cumulative case total to 250,169. It also reported all seven of the state’s deaths, bringing the number of deaths in the county to 4,383.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate fell to 4.5 percent.

County numbers are reflected in the statewide totals.

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