Nevada reports 602 new COVID-19 cases, 9 more deaths

State data showed 602 additional cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, the highest number of new cases reported in Nevada in the past month.

Nine more deaths also were reported, according to data posted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website. The figures brought totals in the state to 78,355 cases and 1,582 fatalities.

Saturday showed the largest increase in cases since Aug. 29, when 609 new cases were reported. The state and county health districts redistribute data after daily reports in an attempt to better reflect when people started showing symptoms.

The state’s infection rate, which is calculated by the Review-Journal as the number of cases divided by the number of people who have been tested, increased by only .01 percent from Friday’s statistic, reaching 11.44 percent. The infection rate is considered a better indicator of the pandemic than daily case or death totals.

The state, which calculates its positivity rate based on the number of tests administered, reported a cumulative rate of 9.9 percent, where it has remained since Thursday. The state’s methodology yields lower figures because many people get tested multiple times, increasing the numbers upon which the percentages are based, which in turn lowers the percentages.

Clark County reported 425 new cases on Saturday and all nine additional deaths in Nevada were also reported in Clark County, according to state data.

Totals in the county on Saturday stood at 66,008 cases and 1,377 deaths.

Data from state and county health districts can vary due to different reporting cycles.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Alexis Ford contributed to this report.