Clark County COVID cases, hospitalizations rise for 2nd straight day

New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations edged higher in Clark County for the second straight day Thursday as health officials reported 398 new cases and 16 deaths over the previous 24 hours.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District raised county totals to 331,107 cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus and 5,963 deaths.

New cases were above the 14-day moving average, which increased by four to 293. Deaths also were above the moving average, which held steady at five fatalities per day.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county increased by 17, to 452, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The county’s 14-day test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, held steady at 6.0 percent.

That translated to 6.66 percent in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s preferred 7-day rate. Clark County also showed a case rate of 109.89 cases per 100,000 people, still more than double the level needed to exit Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mask mandate.

Candice McDaniel, deputy director of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, said Thursday that state officials were happy with improvements in the Silver State since the mask mandate went back into effect in July.

“We’ve all seen an incredible decrease, and I think what we need to promote at this point is just continuing with those mitigation measures, increase vaccination rates and especially the exciting news of vaccine coming out for our younger kiddos,” she said. “I think that will definitely help with the case positivity in particular for Clark County.”

Nevada, meanwhile, reported 647 new COVID-19 cases and 31 deaths over the preceding day. That brought state totals to 438,216 cases and 7,631 deaths.

It was the first time since early July that the state has reported fewer than 700 new cases for three straight days, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

Nevada’s 14-day moving average of new cases increased to 473, up from 470 on Wednesday per day. The two-week average for fatalities also was unchanged at nine per day.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

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

Of the state’s other closely watched metrics, the two-week test positivity rate stayed flat at 6.8 percent, while the number of people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases rose to 635, 13 more than on Wednesday.

As of Thursday’s report, state data show that 56.01 percent of Nevadans 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, compared to 55.26 percent in Clark County.

That number fluctuates widely throughout the state. Washoe County has the state’s highest vaccination rate, at 65.13 percent, while Storey County has the lowest at 20.07 percent.

The number of Nevadans receiving the vaccine has been tapering off in recent weeks. Administered doses hit a recent peak of about 7,400 a day in early October. That number is now at 6,400, according to state data.

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