50 new COVID-19 cases, 9 more deaths reported in Clark County
Fifty new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional fatalities from the disease were reported in Clark County overnight, bringing the death toll for the county to 115, according to new data posted Wednesday by the Southern Nevada Health District.
The number of new cases reported for the county was the lowest increase reported overnight since the district added 37 cases to the total on March 24 and the third straight daily decline.
The number of deaths rose from recent days, however, and was the highest figure reported by the district since it added 21 deaths on Saturday.
The health district also is using an algorithm to estimate that 1,281 of the county patients who contracted the disease have recovered.
The new county numbers were posted shortly after Nevada reported 123 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total caseload in the state to 3,211. The death toll posted on the state’s nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website increased by seven, to 137.
The overnight increase from the 3,088 confirmed cases reported on Tuesday was on the low end of the range seen in recent daily reports from the state Department of Health and Human Services, suggesting that measures to stop the spread of the disease caused by the new coronavirus are having an impact.
The number of confirmed cases in the state was derived from tests on 27,655 people, resulting in an overall infection rate of 11.6 percent. That number is likely elevated, however, as the seriously ill and people who have had close contact with a diagnosed COVID-19 patient are more likely to be tested during the ongoing shortage of testing supplies.
Also on Wednesday, the Washoe County Health District reported 17 new COVID-19 cases and one death, bringing the case total there to 549 and the death count to 14. The district has reported 103 recovered patients.
In other developments Wednesday:
— A second RTC bus driver whose route traveled the Las Vegas Strip has developed COVID-19, the agency said. The driver worked for Keolis, one of two contractors who provide bus drivers for RTC buses, which was notified Tuesday of the positive test of the driver from the Deuce on the Strip route, according to Marc Perla, Keolis general manager of Las Vegas operations. The driver last worked on April 2, Perla said. Keolis also reported a case of COVID-19 in a driver of the Deuce route on Monday. No contact between the drivers had been established.
— Four Clark County Detention Center inmates have developed COVID-19 since March 12, Las Vegas police said in a news release. One inmate was released from jail and is recovering at University Medical Center; one was released to home quarantine Tuesday after serving their sentence; and two are isolated and recovering in negative air pressure rooms, police said in a release.
— A staff member at the the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in the northeast valley has been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to information posted on nvhealthresponse.nv.gov. The post did not provide any information on the staff member’s condition. The state Department of Corrections has reported six cases in its prison system, all among staff.
Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.