Nevada adds 40 COVID deaths in a day for 2nd time this week

Nevada’s coronavirus surge gave hints it might be easing this week, but the progress came at a high cost as new cases reached their highest level since late January and deaths matched figures last seen in mid-February.

With one day remaining, the state already has recorded 155 COVID-19 fatalities — the most since 174 were reported from Feb. 14-20, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

There’s a good chance the state will surpass that figure on Saturday after adding 40 deaths on Friday, according to updated data posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on the state’s coronavirus website. That won’t be known until Monday because the state no longer updates its figures on the weekend.

The state also reported 1,280 new COVID-19 cases over the preceding day, pushing the total for the week to 7,552. That was the biggest weekly caseload since the state recorded 9,082 new cases over the week ending Jan. 31.

Updated figures from the state health department brought totals in the state to 371,126 cases and 6,160 deaths.

Deaths remained higher than the two-week average of daily reported fatalities. The average has been slowly increasing since June, and rose from nine to 12 over the past week.

New cases also were higher than the moving 14-day average of daily cases, which rose slightly from 932 to 937. Friday was the second day in a row the rate has increased, following two consecutive decreases earlier in the week.

Other than the small decreases earlier this week, the rate had been trending up for the past two months.

State and county health agencies often redistribute the daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or a test 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.

Positivity rate climb stalls

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, remained at 16.3 percent for the fourth day in a row.

The stall is a positive sign, given that the rate had been rising steadily since falling to a recent low of 3.3 percent on June 9. Nonetheless, it remains at its highest level since Feb. 2.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

Hospitalizations for the disease also slowed this week, though there were 1,294 people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases as of Friday’s update, 18 more than the day prior.

Hospitalizations peaked this week at 1,317 reported on Wednesday, which was the highest level since 1,322 hospitalizations were recorded on Jan. 28, according to state data.

But the rate of growth slowed substantially over the past two weeks, jumping 11 percent, compared with a 19.3 percent increase over the same period ending a week ago.

Also encouraging was a midweek statement from the Nevada Hospital Association saying the surge in hospitalizations was slowing in Southern Nevada, even as a similar wave was developing in Northern Nevada.

“We remain cautiously optimistic that Nevada may be reaching the peak of the current wave,” the association said.

But Julia Peek, the deputy administrator for the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, said at a news briefing Thursday that it’s too early to say if the current surge across the state is nearing its apex.

Vaccination rate nears 50%

As of Friday, 49.03 percent of Nevadans 12 and older have been fully vaccinated, a 0.79-percentage-point increase from the week prior.

The 14-day moving average of daily administered vaccine doses remains well above its recent low of 4,838 reported on July 16, according to state data. The metric on Friday stood at 6,527.

Testing for COVID-19 has also been slowly increasing in the past two months, state data shows. As of Friday, the moving two-week average of daily tests stood at 7,179, comparable to levels not seen since March.

Clark County, meanwhile, reported 870 new coronavirus cases and 38 additional deaths, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District.

Cumulative totals for the county rose to 291,502 cases and 4,936 deaths.

The county’s two-week test positivity rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point on Friday, reaching 16.7 percent. While the statewide metric has remained relatively flat in recent days, the county’s rate has declined by 0.5 percentage point since Sunday, according to state data.

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