Nevada reports 2,641 new COVID-19 cases, 41 deaths

For the second week in a row, Nevada has recorded the most coronavirus deaths in a single week, according to state data.

Forty-one deaths were reported on Saturday, bringing the total number of deaths recorded this week to 219, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. There were 182 deaths reported last week.

Less than two weeks into December, it has already become the second-deadliest month for reported coronavirus deaths. There have been 376 recorded deaths this month, while August, which has seen the most recorded coronavirus deaths, had 475 fatalities, state data shows.

The deaths reported on Saturday brought the moving seven-day average of deaths to 31, the highest the average has been during the pandemic.

Nevada also reported 2,641 additional cases on Saturday, slight more than the moving seven-day average of 2,618 daily reported cases. Updated figures posted to the state health department’s coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 183,951 cases and 2,520 deaths.

The two-week positivity rate calculated by the state health department decreased for the third day in a row. The rate stood at 21.8 percent, a 0.1 percentage point decrease from the previous day.

As of Saturday, 1,823 patients in Nevada are hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, a decrease of 31 from the previous day, state data shows.

Although the Nevada Hospital Association does not release data on weekends, the association on Friday said Southern Nevada is in the midst of a new “hospitalization wave,” even as hospitalizations in the northern and rural areas of the state may be “starting to recede.” The southern surge may be related to Thanksgiving, Caleb Cage, the state’s COVID-19 response director, told reporters on Friday.

As of Thursday, 1,331 suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients — or nearly 80 percent of the state’s total — were filling a little over 28 percent of the region’s 4,686 licensed hospital beds, the association said. The remainder of the beds were filled by people with other diseases and injuries.

There were 1,953 new cases reported in Clark County on Saturday, with 32 additional fatalities, according to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website.

Totals in the county rose to 139,053 cases and 1,994 deaths.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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