Clark County records 697 new COVID-19 cases, 4 additional deaths

Clark County recorded 697 new cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District posted Monday.

The new cases posted on the health district’s coronavirus web page brought the county total to 14,607 and the fatalities raised the death toll to 414. The district estimates that 9,041 patients who contracted the disease caused by the new coronavirus have recovered.

It was the third straight day the district has recorded more than 600 new cases in a 24-hour period, though it said the Saturday and Sunday counts were both inflated by older cases that had not been reported in a timely fashion. It was not immediately clear whether similar issues were involved in the figure reported Monday — the third-highest daily total since the health district began reporting case data in late March.

Monday’s new cases were well above the daily average of just over 489 for the preceding week.

The fatalities were above the daily average of nearly two for the period.

The district also reported two new hospitalizations during the day preceding Monday’s report. That figure was well below the daily average for the preceding week of nearly 16.

The Nevada Hospital Association reported Monday that Clark County accounted for 90 percent of the 43 new hospitalizations of patents with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases and accounts for 82 percent of all such cases in the state.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 symptoms have been on an upward trajectory throughout June, the association said, though hospitals in Southern Nevada are not nearing capacity, with 74 percent of all hospital beds and 69 percent of intensive care unit beds occupied in the region.

The state Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, reported 734 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths.

The additional cases reported on the agency’s nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website pushed the state total to 17,894 while the death toll held steady at 500.

Coronavirus impact in Nevada: a data guide

New cases were above the daily average of nearly 574 over the preceding week.

The state infection rate — the number of confirmed cases divided by the number of people tested — registered its 12th straight daily increase, hitting 6.59 percent. The rate, considered a better bellwether of the trend of the outbreak in the state than daily case and death reports, declined steadily over more than two months, bottoming out at 5.20 percent on June 17, before beginning to rebound.

Reports from local health districts and other county agencies placed the caseload higher than the state figure, at 17,901 as of midafternoon. Such discrepancies are common because of different reporting cycles for the state and local agencies.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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