3 of Clark County’s 4 major COVID-19 metrics decline as the other holds steady

Clark County on Tuesday recorded 298 new coronavirus cases and 19 deaths as three of its four key metrics showed day-over-day declines.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District pushed county totals to 330,240 cases and 5,935 deaths.

The county’s two-week test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, dropped 0.1 percentage points to 6.1 percent. That translates to 6.54 percent using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s preferred seven-day rate, which keeps the county in the “moderate” transmission tier for that metric.

The county has reached one of the two requirements to exit the state mask mandate by having a test positivity rate of 8 percent or lower over back-to back weeks. The state slipped below that level sometime during the week ending Oct. 5.

To reach the CDC’s “moderate” transmission tier, which would result in a lifting of the mandate, a county also must record back-to-back weeks with fewer than 50 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

CDC data showed that as of Tuesday, Clark County had a case rate of 108.88. per 100,000 people, about six less than last week. That’s the metric that has been keeping the county far away from entering the “moderate” tier and exiting the mask mandate.

State officials announced Tuesday that nearly all of the Silver State would remain under a mask mandate for at least another two weeks. Residents of Esmeralda County, which has not recorded a positive test in over two weeks, are not required to mask up.

All other counties were in the “high” transmission tier, state officials said.

Tuesday’s update also showed the number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county decreased by 57, to 441, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

While new cases were again higher than the two-week moving average of 285 per day, the average itself continued its recent downward progress by shedding 13 cases per day from Monday’s report. The two-week moving average of fatalities in the county held steady at five.

The state, meanwhile, reported 624 new COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths over the preceding day. That brought totals to 436,900 cases and 7,577 deaths.

Remembering Nevadans lost to COVID-19

Nevada’s 14-day moving average of new cases also declined, dropping to 465 per day from 490 on Monday. The two-week average for fatalities increased by one to nine per day.

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.

A new state report from Monday showed that Nevada had registered a total of 911 so-called breakthrough cases, or positive COVID-19 cases in people who were fully vaccinated. About 62 percent occurred in people over the age of 70.

Nevada also reported a total of 224 breakthrough deaths, with about 67 percent who were 70 and older. Following CDC guidance, the state only reports breakthrough cases that result in hospitalization or death, meaning there are plenty of breakthrough cases that are unreported.

The averages show that all four key COVID-19 metrics have been falling since mid- to late-August.

Of the state’s other closely watched metrics, the two-week test positivity rate, declined 0.2 percentage points to 6.9 percent, while the number of people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases fell to 624, 59 less than on Monday.

As of Wednesday’s report, state data show that 55.87 percent of Nevadans 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, compared with 55.13 percent in Clark County.

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