New COVID-19 cases in Nevada, Clark County and infection rates dip

Nevada and Clark County public health officials both reported lower-than-average totals of new confirmed COVID-19 cases Monday and the death toll in the county remained unchanged for the third straight day, raising hopes that a downward trend is beginning to materialize.

The Southern Nevada Health District reported 52 new cases in Clark County overnight, well below the average 93 for the past week. It also said the death toll for the county remained at 174, where it has stood since Friday.

The total number of cases reported in the county stood at 3,717. The health district estimates that 2,351 of those patients have recovered.

Both the infection rate (12.28 percent of those tested) and the death rate (4.39 percent of those tested) also have been creeping lower in recent days. Both figures are likely elevated because the seriously ill and people who were in close contact with a diagnosed patient have been most likely to be tested during a shortage of testing supplies.

Hospitalizations from the disease caused by the new coronavirus have slowed in recent days, with only eight since Friday. In total, 918 people have been hospitalized in Clark County since the outbreak began.

At the same time, the hospitalization rate has decreased in each of the past four days, falling to 24.62 percent of those tested in Monday’s report.

The state, meanwhile, reported 88 new COVID-19 cases on Monday for a total of 4,690 statewide, according to new data posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services. That figure also was well below the average of 123 cases per day seen over the past week.

The lone exception to the otherwise positive numbers were the 13 new fatalities reported by the state, bringing the death toll to 219.

The total state caseload was derived from tests of 38,813 people for the disease caused by the new coronavirus, according to data posted on the agency’s nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website. That translates to an overall infection rate of 12.1 percent, a figure that also is likely elevated.

State officials have indicated that they expect testing to become more widespread in the coming weeks, with University Medical Center in Las Vegas and Renown Regional Medical Center recently added as testing labs and numerous state agencies helping to manufacture testing kits. But that increased capacity has not yet led to more testing, as the average number of tests administered last week of 1,185 per day was lower than the 1,271 average daily tests the preceding week.

To date, just over 1 percent of the state’s estimated population of 3.08 million as of July have been tested for the disease.

In other developments Monday:

— Authorities in Nye County reported four new COVID-19 cases in Pahrump, bringing the total for the county to 35. Fourteen of those patients are listed as recovered.

— Public health officials in Washoe County reported 16 new cases of COVID-19 and an additional death. That pushed total cases in the county to 820 and the number of deaths to 28. The county said 268 of those patients have recovered.

— Humboldt County reported a new case, bringing its total to 37.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of people currently hospitalized in Clark County.

Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.