Nevada adds 1K-plus new COVID-19 cases for 11th straight day

Nevada on Thursday reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the 11th straight day and added 22 deaths as longer-term trends for the state’s four major COVID-19 metrics remained mixed.

Updated numbers posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services on the state’s coronavirus website pushed the state totals to 385,272 cases and 6,398 deaths.

The 1,137 new cases reported were above the two-week moving average, which decreased from 950 to 938. That is well below the average’s recent high of 1,120 on Aug. 17

Deaths were above the average of 13 per day, which increased from 12 the previous day. The average also has declined from its recent high of 17 per day on Aug. 18.

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 number of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the state increased by 31 from 1,282 to 1,251, continuing a recent pattern of daily fluctuations along a relatively flat trend line.

The Nevada Hospital Association said in its weekly report Wednesday that it’s concerned about hospital staffing throughout the state. The trade group also noted consistent increases in COVID-19 related hospitalizations in Northern Nevada, even as Southern Nevada has started to see a modest decline.

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“Uniformly, hospitals and health departments are having challenges staffing all areas,” the update said. “Staffing shortages are no longer just in nursing; hospitals report shortages ranging from critical care nurses to dietary and EVS personnel. Public health agencies are reporting shortages in contact tracing and recruitment for other positions.”

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, continued to drop on Thursday, declining 0.3 percentage points to 13.8 percent.

The rate, which began rising steadily after hitting a recent low of 3.3 percent on June 9, has now dropped more than 2 percentage points from its recent peak of 16.4 percent on Aug. 13.

A statewide surge in all four metrics that began in early June appears to have boosted vaccination numbers. State data now shows that 50.99 percent of eligible Nevadans 12 and older have been fully vaccinated.

Julia Peek, deputy administrator for the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, said during a Thursday briefing that the lower testing numbers can be partly attributed to new testing protocols. Many schools and businesses, for example, are requiring that unvaccinated people get tested regularly, even if they aren’t showing symptoms.

“We’re doing a great deal more syndromic-type screenings,” she said. “So we’re getting all that data coming in, over the past two weeks, that can affect the positivity.”

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Clark County, meanwhile, recorded 653 new COVID-19 cases and 19 additional deaths over the preceding day, according to data posted Thursday by the Southern Nevada Health District on its coronavirus webpage. That brought county totals to 301,011 cases and 5,127 deaths.

The county on Wednesday also passed the 50 percent threshold of fully vaccinated residents 12 and older. Thursday had the final Vax Nevada Days drawing, including a $1 million grand prize. Michelle White, chief of staff to Gov. Steve Sisolak, said Thursday that she is pleased with the results of the raffle.

The overall vaccination numbers dropped in mid-July but have steadily increased since then. The state was administering less than 5,000 doses per day to Nevada residents at that time, but that number has climbed to about 7,000 as of the most recent report.

“It has certainly helped amplify the importance of vaccinations,” she said. “It is so hard to pinpoint any one thing and say that’s why we’ve had an increase. Do I think that it’s contributed to an increase in vaccinations? I do.”

Clark County’s two-week test positivity rate, meanwhile, decreased by 0.3 percentage point on Thursday, to 12.9 percent. County numbers are included in the statewide totals.

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