New COVID-19 cases in Clark County climb again

New cases of COVID-19 in Clark County continued to climb over the preceding three days, a concerning reversal that could signal the county is entering another surge of the disease.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District on Monday showed 968 new COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths from Friday through Sunday. That pushed totals for the state’s most populous county to 335,413 cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus and 6,029 deaths.

Spread over three days, the number of new cases per day was just below the 14-day moving average of 341 per day, while the average jumped by 13 from Friday’s report, according to state data.

Fatalities were well above the moving average of three per day, while the average declined by one from Friday.

State and county health agencies often redistribute 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.

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The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of the disease rose by one over the period to 509.

The county’s test positivity rate was unchanged at 5.9 percent.

The 14-day average of new cases has now jumped by nearly 50 per day from its recent low of 293 per day on Oct. 28, and the county’s test positivity has ticked slightly higher in the past week, rising from 5.8 percent to 5.9 percent.

The reversal is worrisome, as both are considered leading indicators that often signal a change in the status of the outbreak well before hospitalizations and deaths, both of which have remained mostly flat over the past two weeks.

The county also issued a new report late last week on so-called breakthrough COVID-19 cases late last week, showing 591 such cases and seven deaths over the previous week. That pushed county totals for the cases in which fully vaccinated individuals contract the disease to 11,695 cases and 190 deaths.

Public officials have not yet said they believe the county is entering another surge phase of the pandemic, though some experts have theorized that the disease may rebound as colder weather arrives around the country.

The state, meanwhile, reported 1,501 new COVID-19 cases and 46 deaths for the Friday through Sunday period.

Updated figures posted by the Department of Health and Human Services pushed state totals to 445,142 cases and 7,759 deaths attributed to the disease.

The 14-day moving average of new cases continued its recent rise, jumping to 526 per day from 505 as of Friday’s report.

The two-week average for fatalities, however, decreased by one to five per day.

State data showed 697 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients occupying beds in Nevada hospitals, down by 20 from the 717 reported Friday.

The test positivity rate for Nevada was unchanged over the period at 6.7 percent.

As of Monday, 56.46 percent of eligible Nevadans had completed their vaccinations, the state data showed. That was 0.1 percentage point below the 56.56 percent reported Friday, suggesting that the state is now counting residents in the newly vaccine authorized 5 to 11 age group. But the state’s coronavirus website continued to show that the statistics were for Nevadans 12 and older.

A spokeswoman from DHSS did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.