Clark County COVID-19 deaths static as other key metrics slide

Clark County on Wednesday saw most of its major COVID-19 metrics continue to fall as it reported just 333 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths recorded during the preceding day.

Updated numbers posted by the Southern Nevada Health District pushed totals for the county to 328,218 cases and 5,873 deaths.

New cases were above the two-week moving average of 298 per day, which was down from 310 on Tuesday. The two-week moving average of daily fatalities in the county was unchanged at six.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county decreased by 22, to 503, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

The county’s 14-day test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, fell by 0.1 percentage point to 6.5 percent.

All four key COVID-19 metrics in the county have been falling fairly steadily since mid- to late-August.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

The state, meanwhile, reported 649 new COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths over the preceding day. That brought totals to 433,510 cases and 7,484 deaths.

Nevada’s 14-day moving average of new cases declined to 477 per day from 495 on Tuesday. The two-week average for fatalities held steady at 10 per day.

State and county health agencies often redistribute daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, which is why the moving-average trend lines frequently differ from daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak.

Of the state’s other closely watched metrics, the two-week test positivity rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 7.4 percent, while the number of people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases fell to 675, 36 fewer than on Tuesday. That figure also has been falling since late August.

Despite the improving numbers, the Nevada Hospital Association said in its weekly update Wednesday that staffing is expected to remain a concern across the Silver State for a “significant timeframe,” including in Clark County.

Staffing continues to be a concern within the health care sector,” the trade group said. “A tight labor market, particularly in licensed and skilled professions, is making retention and recruitment challenging and contributing to wage inflation. Cross-sector (transportation) interdependencies, trucking, and port congestion are the issues that cause “supplies” to remain in watch status.”

As of Wednesday’s report, state data show that 55.43 percent of Nevadans 12 and older had been fully vaccinated, compared to 54.67 percent in Clark County. That number fluctuates widely throughout the state.

Washoe County has the state’s highest vaccination rate, at 64.54 percent, while Storey County has the lowest at 19.99 percent.

Storey County also has the highest current test positivity rate in the state, at 33.3 percent.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.