Nevada’s coronavirus positivity rate drops below 5% again

For the first time in more than a month, Nevada’s two-week coronavirus positivity rate has dropped below the target set by the World Health Organization.

The positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 4.9 percent, according to updated figures posted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website on Tuesday.

The rate reached 5 percent on Monday, matching the WHO’s target to prevent the spread of the disease. Tuesday was the first time the metric has dipped lower than 5 percent since April 10, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

Nevada also reported 287 new coronavirus cases and seven additional deaths.

Totals in Nevada rose to 321,368 cases and 5,540 deaths since the pandemic began, according to the state data.

New cases were higher than the moving two-week average of daily reported cases, which declined to 183. Deaths were also higher than the daily average of three fatalities recorded over the same time period.

State officials have said that due to delayed reports and redistributed data, it is normal for daily announced increases to be higher than the moving averages. State and county health agencies 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.

As of Tuesday’s report, there were 303 people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, 27 fewer than the day prior.

The Southern Nevada Health District, meanwhile, reported 218 new coronavirus cases and six additional deaths in Clark County.

Cumulative totals in the county rose to 249,011 cases and 4,366 deaths.

Clark County’s two-week positivity rate also dropped by 0.1 percentage points, but was higher than the state’s average at 5 percent.

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