Nevada reports 891 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

There were 891 additional coronavirus cases reported in Nevada on Sunday, along with five more fatalities, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The updated data posted to the department’s coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 95,703 cases and 1,748 deaths.

It was the second-highest increase in new cases reported in the past seven days. On Saturday, the department reported more than 1,000 new cases for the first time in more than two months.

The state’s infection rate, calculated by the Review-Journal as the number of cases divided by the total people tested, increased slightly Sunday to 12.15 percent, state data shows.

The rate has been slowly increasing since mid-September, when daily case reports also started rising. The daily reports of fatalities have not seen the same increase, although rises in deaths typically lag several weeks behind increases in new cases.

The health department calculates a positivity rate over a two-week period, and it increased to 10 percent on Sunday. It’s the first time since the state began reporting the two-week rate on Oct. 15 that it has reached double digits.

The rate is calculated using total “testing encounters,” which produces lower percentages because the figure includes people who received multiple tests at different points during the pandemic.

Clark County reported 735 new cases on Sunday, along with one new death, according to data posted to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website.

The updated figures brought totals in the county to 78,897 cases and 1,492 deaths.

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