Clark County reports 97 new COVID-19 cases, no fatalities

Clark County recorded 97 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths in the preceding 24 hours, according to data posted Monday by the Southern Nevada Health District.

The new cases brought the total for the county to 5,463, while the death toll remained at 296.

The district estimates that 4,055 of those patients have recovered.

The number of new cases was slightly above the average of 88 over the preceding week, but the hospitalization rate dating from the beginning of the outbreak in the state in early March registered its 10th straight decline to reach 21.38 percent, meaning that just over one in five of those who tested positive were hospitalized (excluding deaths).

The hospitalization rate is likely still artificially high, as until recent weeks only the seriously ill were able to be tested due to a shortage of testing supplies. But it has been declining steadily since a one-day spike on May 5 raised it to 23.50 percent.

Public health experts say the rate should continue to decline as more people with mild to moderate symptoms — or even no symptoms — are tested for the disease caused by the new coronavirus. For that reason, they said it is a more accurate indicator of the trend of the outbreak in Clark County than new cases, because the raw number of cases is expected to climb as testing increases.

Earlier, Nevada recorded 49 new cases of COVID-19 and another decline in the statewide infection rate.

The new cases, reported by the Nevada Health and Human Services Department from the preceding 24 hours on its nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website, brought the state case total to 6,906. Reports from local health districts and counties place the total at 7,060 cases. The variance between the totals is a result of different reporting cycles.

The state death toll increased by 14 to 364 from the figure reported late Sunday. The state typically apportions those deaths over several days, so the actual increase for the day may not match the new number.

The new cases were well below the state’s daily average for the last week of just over 108.

The case total was derived from tests on 81,832 people, resulting in an infection rate of 8.44 percent. The state reported conducting 1,140 tests over the preceding day.

The infection rate — the number of positive cases divided by the number of people tested — likewise is considered a better indicator of the trend of the outbreak in the state. That figure has been declining for weeks.

In other developments Monday:

■ Public health officials in Washoe County reported 10 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death from the disease. The cases brought the county total to 1,266, 672 of whom have recovered, according to the Regional Information Center. The death toll in the country inched up to 48 with the death of a woman in her 90s with underlying health conditions, it said.

■ Nye County officials reported the first death of a county resident. A news release aid the unidentified Pahrump resident contracted the disease outside the county and also died outside the county. No additional details were provided.

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