Every Nevada county in ‘low’ COVID community transmission level, CDC says

Clark County showed a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases in the state’s weekly update, but data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed all of Nevada in the “low” community transmission level, a positive sign as the state moves forward in its pandemic response.

There was a disconnect between state and county data, as the state dashboard showed a total of 495,838 cases, while the county dashboard showed a total of 496,654 cases. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

“We are aware of the discrepancy and our staff is looking into it with state,” Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said in an email Wednesday afternoon.

Nevertheless, the county also showed an increase of 50 deaths in the past week, bringing the total posted by the health district to 7,789.

Until a few weeks ago, Nevada state officials had reported COVID-19 metrics each day on the statewide dashboard. But citing a number of factors, including “obsolete” statistics, the state Department of Health and Human Services announced on March 10 that it would only report numbers once a week, on Wednesdays.

Case numbers have stayed relatively flat since then. On Wednesday, state data showed the county’s 14-day moving average of daily new cases had increased to 76, from 70 in the last report.

The two-week moving average of daily deaths in the county held steady at two.

Even though the county reported 50 deaths over the past week, the majority of those did not actually occur in the past week. Deaths are often reported well after the fact, and it isn’t always clear exactly when the newly reported deaths happened.

Hospitalizations dropped again in the county, from 170 last week to 114. Clark County currently has a case rate of 32.87 per 100,000 people, according to CDC data.

Meanwhile, the state reported an increase of 941 cases and 60 deaths in the last week, bringing cumulative totals posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services to 658,075 cases and 10,091 deaths.

Of those new cases, 784 actually occurred in the last week, according to a state data spreadsheet that shows daily reports. Only six of the new deaths reported actually happened in the last week, but those numbers are often updated after the fact.

The two-week moving average of daily new cases rose by three to 99, while the two-week moving average of daily deaths dropped from three to two.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 also declined, from 192 last week to 140.

“We’re still in a relatively clam but vigilant state,” said Nancy Diao, division director of epidemiology and public health preparedness for the Washoe County Health District.

The new report came just a day after The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for Americans over age 50 and for certain younger people with severely weakened immune systems.

As of Wednesday, state data showed that 56.94 percent of Nevadans five and older were fully vaccinated, compared with 56.30 percent in Clark County.

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