Nevada adds 915 new COVID-19 cases as positivity rate jumps

Nevada on Monday reported 915 new coronavirus cases and three deaths over the preceding three days, as the state’s test positivity rate continued its recent surge.

Updated data covering Friday through Sunday posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services on the state’s coronavirus website showed the two-week moving average of new COVID-19 cases increasing to 243 per day and pushed the state’s case total to 332,529.

The state’s death total increased to 5,670. The three deaths reported were below the two-week moving average of two per day, when spread over three days.

The state no longer reports numbers over the weekend and public health officials have said that reporting on Monday and sometimes Tuesday can be inflated as a result of the delayed reporting.

But Monday’s increase in new cases was the largest one-day jump following a weekend since the state discontinued weekend reporting in mid-April, eclipsing the 840 recorded on April 26. And the two-week moving average of new cases has been climbing since it reached a low of 132 on June 5.

Much of that growth has occurred in Clark County.

Gov. Steve Sisolak said Monday in a news release that the “increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in Clark County” was concerning and promised that the state will help support efforts to boost vaccination rates there, including more mobile clinics and enrollment of additional providers to distribute doses.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, increased by 0.4 percentage points in Monday’s update to 4.9 percent, according to state data. The rate has been increasing since it hit a recent low of 3.3 percent on June 9.

The data also showed 355 people with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized in the state, an increase of 49 from the last update on Friday.

State and county health agencies often 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.

Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada Health District reported 915 new cases in Clark County for Friday through Sunday, bringing the local cumulative case total to 258,822. It also reported all three of the state’s deaths, bringing the number of deaths in the county to 4,485.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate also climbed from 4.7 percent as of Friday’s report to 5.2 percent. That’s higher than the 5.0 percent threshold recommended by the World Health Organization to prevent the virus from spreading.

County numbers are reflected in the statewide totals.

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