Nevada reports most COVID deaths in a day since mid-February

Nevada on Tuesday reported the largest single-day coronavirus death toll in nearly six months, according to state data.

The 40 additional fatalities reported by the Department of Health and Human Services were the most since 41 were reported on Feb. 17, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

Nevada also recorded 1,125 new COVID-19 cases over the preceding day. The state has now logged at least 1,000 cases of the disease in 10 of its last 11 daily updates.

The new numbers pushed state totals to 367,709 cases and 6,080 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

New cases remained higher than the 14-day moving average of 950 per day, down from 981 on Monday.

The average has been climbing since it reached a recent low of 132 on June 5, with much of that growth occurring in Clark County.

Deaths were four times the moving two-week average of 10 fatalities per day.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

State and county health agencies often redistribute the daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or a test 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.

The state’s two-week test positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, remained unchanged at 16.3 percent, according to state data.

The rate has climbed steadily since hitting a recent low of 3.3 percent on June 9. The metric now stands at its highest level since Feb. 2.

The state also reported that 1,279 people in Nevada were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, 16 more than the day prior.

As of Tuesday’s report, 48.65 percent of Nevadans 12 and older have been fully vaccinated, a 0.09 percentage point increase from the day prior, according to state data.

The 14-day moving average of daily administered shots stood at 6,515 on Tuesday, according to state data. The rate has been trending upward since hitting a recent low of 4,833 on July 16.

The two-week moving average of daily coronavirus tests decreased to 6,974, down from the 8,005 reported on Friday. But testing numbers also have been trending higher over the past month, after dipping to a recent low of 4,435 on June 21, state data shows.

Despite the climbing COVID-19 metrics, state officials said Tuesday in a news release that the recent mandate that masks be work by all in crowded indoor settings appears to be slowing the spread of the disease.

“Nevada was the first state to reinstate indoor masking on July 30,” it said. “Since then, Nevada has had the second slowest COVID growth in the nation over the past two weeks at 21 percent, which is more than four times lower than the national average of 112 percent as of Aug. 9.”

The release also stated that Clark County remains at high risk of COVID-19 transmission, meaning the mask mandate will remain in place at least two more weeks.

In contrast, Esmeralda County became the first Nevada county to reach the threshold for dropping the mandate after being categorized at low risk of spread for two successive weeks. The count’s mask mandate for vaccinated people will end on Aug. 13, though masks will still be required for the unvaccinated in crowded indoor settings.

Clark County, meanwhile, recorded 733 new coronavirus cases and 32 additional deaths, according to data posted to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website.

Cumulative totals in the county rose to 289,114 cases and 4,860 deaths.

The county’s two-week test positivity rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 17 percent.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.