Nevada logs 1,322 new coronavirus cases, 7 more deaths

Nevada reported 1,322 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, along with seven additional deaths, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Updated figures posted to the department’s coronavirus website brought totals for the state to 112,304 cases and 1,859 deaths.

While Nevada experienced a decrease in daily reported cases in late summer, the number of new cases has been increasing again since mid-September.

From mid-August to Oct. 24, the state had not reported more than 1,000 new cases in a single day. But since Oct. 24, there have been nine days with more than 1,000 new cases, including Tuesday’s figure.

The record for most new cases reported in a single day was set on Saturday, when 1,824 additional cases were reported, according to state data.

On Monday the Nevada Hospital Association reported that Nevada is experiencing a “significant resurgence” in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the northern and southern parts of the state. The current hospitalization counts are the highest in the state since mid-August, “effectively erasing the progress made over the past three months,” the association said in a statement.

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that he will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. Tuesday regarding the state’s COVID-19 response.

In a regular briefing with reporters Monday, state officials declined to say whether any new statewide COVID-19 restrictions would be announced in the near future.

On Tuesday, the state’s positivity rate reached 13.14 percent. The rate is calculated by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as the number of total cases divided by total people tested, and it has been increasing along with new cases since mid-September.

The health department calculates a positivity rate over a two-week period, and it reached 13.7 percent on Tuesday.

The rate is calculated using total “testing encounters,” which usually produces lower percentages than the Review-Journal’s cumulative rate because the figure includes people who received multiple tests at different points during the pandemic.

Clark County reported 869 additional coronavirus cases on Tuesday, along with five new fatalities, according to data posted to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website.

Totals in the county since the start of the pandemic rose to 90,125 cases and 1,576 deaths.

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