Nevada reports most daily COVID-19 deaths since February

Nevada on Tuesday reported 46 new coronavirus deaths — the highest single-day total in more than six months.

Deaths were nearly four times the moving two-week average, which increased from 10 to 12 fatalities per day, and were the most since the state recorded 55 deaths on Feb. 11.

The state’s major COVID-19 metrics — including deaths — have generally been flat or trending lower over the past several weeks. But even as the 14-day moving average for fatalities has dropped from a recent high of 17 on Aug. 10, daily numbers have remained high.

The state has reported double-digit deaths every day for the last three weeks after a period where the average had been into the low single digits.

The apparent disconnect is likely the result of state epidemiologists redistributing daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death, which is why the moving-average trend lines frequently differ from daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak.

Tuesday’s update pushed the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 6,352.

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The state Department of Health and Human Services also reported 1,007 new coronavirus cases, bringing the cumulative case total to 382,773.

New cases remained higher than the 14-day moving average, which declined from 979 per day to 950.

The state’s two-week test positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, continued its recent descent, dropping 0.3 percentage point to 14.1 percent, according to state data.

The rate had been climbing steadily since hitting a recent low of 3.3 percent on June 9, but began retreating after rebounding to a recent high of 16.4 percent two weeks ago, according to state data. It has been dropping faster than other numbers like deaths and hospitalizations, which have registered only slight declines.

The state also reported that 1,275 people in Nevada were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, 44 more than the day prior. The number of hospitalizations in the state has remained flat in the past two weeks after climbing since mid-June, though daily reports continue to fluctuate.

The Nevada Hospital Association has said that the current wave of hospitalizations is likely at or past its peak in Southern Nevada, but cases continue to rise in the northern part of the state.

The state reinstituted a mask mandate in crowded indoor public spaces in many counties on July 30, about two weeks before the state’s numbers started to flatten and drop. That was especially true in Clark County.

While the trends are encouraging, state officials have resisted saying the the current COVID-19 surge has crested.

The fluidity of the situation was underlined Tuesday afternoon, when the state announced that three more counties — Esmeralda, Lander and Storey — had been categorized area with “high or substantial rate of transmission” by the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, a description that covered 16 of the state’s 17 counties last week.

It was Storey County’s second straight week on the list, meaning it will fall under the state’s indoor mask mandate starting Friday.

Esmeralda and Lander counties will fall under the mandate if they meet the “high rate of transmission” standard for another week, in which they would be required to mask up in crowded indoor public spaces beginning on Sept. 3.

Only one county in the state, Eureka County, currently has a “low” rate of transmission.

As of Tuesday’s report, 50.61 percent of Nevadans 12 and older had been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada Health District reported 681 new coronavirus cases and 38 additional deaths, according to data posted to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website.

Cumulative totals in the county rose to 299,595 cases and 5,052 deaths.

The county’s two-week test positivity rate decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 13.6 percent, down from its recent high of 17 on Aug. 8.

County numbers are included in the statewide totals.

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