Nevada records more than 1K new COVID-19 cases for just the 2nd time

Nevada recorded 1,004 new cases of COVID-19 — the second-biggest daily increase announced by the public health officials — and eight additional deaths, according to data posted Friday.

The reporting by the state Department of Health and Human Services, posted the new figures on the agency’s nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website, pushed total cases for Nevada to 25,908 and raised the death toll from the disease caused by the new coronavirus to 579. (Reports from local health districts and counties place the case total higher, at 25,973 as of late Friday.)

New cases, second only to the 1,159 announced on June 26, were well above the daily average of nearly 739 over the preceding week, while deaths were above the daily average of about 6½ for the period.

The state infection rate, considered a better bellwether of the trend of the outbreak in the state than the daily new cases or deaths, climbed for the second straight day and the 22nd day out of the last 23, reaching 7.75 percent.

The rate, the number of confirmed cases divided by the number of people tested, fell over several months before bottoming out at 5.20 percent on June 17. Except for Wednesday, it has risen every day since.

Meanwhile, Clark County recorded 827 new cases of COVID-19 and five additional deaths over the preceding day, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District.

The new data posted to the district’s coronavirus website raised the case total for the county to 21,449, while the additional fatalities pushed the death toll to 473. The county estimates that 14,106 of those sickened by the illness have recovered.

New cases were well above the daily average of nearly 612 over the preceding week, while deaths were slightly below the daily average of just over five for the period.

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The health district also reported 37 new hospitalizations for the disease, well above the daily average of just over 21 for the preceding week.

In an update Thursday, the Nevada Hospital Association reported that 81 percent of available hospital beds and 87 percent of intensive care unit beds in Southern Nevada were occupied.

The report said that COVID-19 patients accounted made up about 19 percent of those hospitalized in Nevada, while in the south they account for nearly one-third of ICU bed use.

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.