More tests may be behind jump in Clark County, Nevada COVID-19 cases

Clark County and Nevada both reported surges in new COVID-19 cases early Friday, but the state increase appeared to be largely driven by more testing being performed in recent days.

The state Department of Health and Human Services reported 229 new cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the biggest one-day increase in more than three weeks. The new cases raised the total in the state to 5,227, the agency reported on its nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website.

That number was derived from tests on 43,595 people, representing an infection rate of 11.99 percent of those tested.

The infection rate was only slightly higher than the 11.90 percent infection rate reported on Thursday, suggesting that the increase of tests to 2,082 from the 1,235 reported a day earlier was largely responsible.

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Both figures are likely inflated from the true infection rate, as seriously ill people and those who have been in close contact with diagnosed patients have been far more likely to be tested amid an ongoing shortage of testing supplies in the state.

The state death toll rose by 11 late Friday to 254.

The Southern Nevada Health District, meanwhile, reported 139 new cases of COVID-19, the largest single-day increase since 144 cases were reported on April 18. The county death toll also increased by four to 206.

The health district does not report the total number of tests, so there is no way to calculate the infection rate.

Experts have predicted that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases will rise as testing becomes more widely available. That’s because many patients with mild to moderate symptoms of the disease have previously been told to self-quarantine at home without being tested to confirm that they actually have it, so as more of those people are tested, the number of new cases will rise, the experts say.

Instead, state and local public health officials are expected to place more emphasis on other indicators such as the death, hospitalization and infection rates to ensure that the disease is not rebounding.

In another development Friday:

— Authorities in Washoe County reported 48 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths. The new cases brought the total reported in the county to 921, of whom 343 have recovered, according to the Regional Information Center. The fatalities were two women, one in her 60s and another in her 40s, and a man in his 70s, pushed the county death toll to 32. The center said the younger woman and the man had underlying health conditions and it was investigating whether the other victim did as well.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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