Nevada’s COVID-19 cases, deaths and positivity rate continue to climb

Nevada on Thursday reported 543 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths as the state’s test positivity rate continued to climb.

Updated data posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services on the state’s coronavirus website pushed the state’s case total to 334,255 and showed the two-week moving average of new COVID-19 cases increasing to 289 per day.

The state’s death toll increased to 5,692. The 11 deaths reported were well above the two-week moving average, which increased to three per day.

According to data from the Centers for Disease and Control, Nevada’s seven day case rate per 100,000 people stood at 108.8 on Thursday, higher than in any other state.

Nevada’s increasing numbers come as the so-called delta variant of the coronavirus has become more prevalent in the state. State officials said earlier this week that the more-contagious variant accounted for nearly half of the cases they analyzed for the preceding two weeks.

The state lab in Reno also reported that it had identified three cases of a new mutant strain related to the delta variant, known as “delta plus.”

Thursday’s update also showed the state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, continuing its recent surge, jumping 0.3 percentage points to 5.8 percent. The rate has been increasing since it hit a recent low of 3.3 percent on June 9.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

The data also showed that 424 people with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized in the state, a decrease of seven from the last update on Wednesday.

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 504 new cases in Clark County on Thursday, bringing the local cumulative case total to 260,389. It also reported 10 of the state’s deaths, bringing the number of deaths in the county to 4,504.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate also climbed from 5.8 percent to 6.2 percent. Thursday was the first time the county’s test positivity rate topped 6 percent since March 14, according to state data.

County numbers are reflected in the statewide totals.

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