Clark County surpasses 4,000 coronavirus deaths

Nevada on Saturday reported 442 new coronavirus cases and 20 additional deaths, according to state data.

Updated figures posted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website brought totals to 299,065 cases and 5,117 deaths since the pandemic began.

Also Saturday, Clark County surpassed 4,000 deaths, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District.

The new cases remained well above the moving 14-day average of daily reported cases, which dropped to 224 on Saturday. Deaths were also well above the two-week average of fatalities, which remained at five.

Despite the recent above-average daily reports, all major disease metrics have been declining in the state since mid-January or earlier, health officials have said.

State and county health agencies often redistribute 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.

There were 81 deaths recorded in Nevada in the past week, which is slightly above last week’s total of 79, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are confirmed to be infected, remained at 5.8 percent.

The number of people hospitalized in Nevada with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases remained at 323 on Saturday, state data shows.

Clark County on Saturday reported 358 new cases and 17 additional deaths, according to the county’s coronavirus website.

Cumulative totals in Clark County rose to 231,116 cases and 4,005 deaths.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate dropped to 6.1 percent on Saturday, a 0.1-percentage-point decrease from the day prior.

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