Clark County COVID metrics continue to inch up

All major COVID-19 metrics increased over the past week in Clark County, according to a weekly report released Wednesday.

The county’s 14-day moving average of daily new cases increased to 195, from 145 at this time last week. Along with other metrics, that number has been inching higher in recent weeks.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed the county’s case rate per 100,000 people was at 69.48, up from 44.38. That was the most significant increase to the metric since it started dropping after the omicron-driven surge began to recede in January.

Hospitalizations also ticked up, just a few weeks after hitting an all-time low in the county and state. The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in Clark County was 103 on Wednesday, 23 more than last week.

The Nevada Hospital Association said in its weekly update on Wednesday that hospitalizations are not increasing in any other part of the state, while noting that numbers are expected to stay relatively low in the next month.

“Nevada COVID-19 hospitalizations remain in a trough, as we have appreciated in the two previous years,” the trade group said. “If past years indicate future events, hospitalizations can be anticipated to stay low throughout the month and into early June.”

The county also reported about 25 deaths over the preceding week, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District, but the two-week moving average of daily deaths held at one.

State and county health agencies often redistribute the 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. That’s been clear in recent weeks, especially with death reporting. State agencies have reported a high number of deaths each week, even when the vast majority of those came weeks or months earlier and are only being reported now.

The state, meanwhile, reported an increase of about 2,000 cases and 30 deaths from the previous week. Totals from the state Department of Health and Human Services were 665,094 cases and 10,780 deaths.

The two-week moving average of daily new cases increased to 195 from 145. The two-week moving average of daily deaths held steady at one.

As with the county, hospitalizations increased statewide, from 98 last week to 130.

When state officials switched from daily to weekly reports in March, they also stopped reporting certain metrics like testing and test positivity rate. It wasn’t immediately clear if the uptick in case rate had coincided with an increase in those numbers. Both the state and county canceled recurring media briefings as the last surge receded and have not announced any updates for the future.

As of Wednesday, state data showed that 57.24 percent of Nevadans 5 and older were considered fully vaccinated, compared with 56.48 percent in Clark County.

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