Clark County sees 376 new COVID-19 cases, no additional deaths
Clark County recorded 376 new COVID-19 cases and no additional deaths over the preceding day, according to data posted Monday.
The data published on the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website pushed the case total for the county to 18,818, while fatalities from the disease caused by the new coronavirus were unchanged at 439.
New cases were well below the daily average of nearly 648 cases over the preceding week, while deaths were below the daily average of just over four over the period.
The health district also reported seven new hospitalizations, well below the daily average of nearly 17 over the preceding week.
The district estimates that 11,325 of those sickened by the disease have recovered.
The hospitalization picture also brightened statewide, with the Nevada Hospital Association reporting Monday that Nevada experienced its first day-over-day decline in hospitalized COVID-19 cases since June 20. The state’s COVID-19 response site listed 748 hospitalizations, 12 fewer than the previous day, or a decrease of 1.6 percent.
The association also said that the state’s hospitals remain in good shape, with an all-cause occupancy rate of 73 percent, an ICU occupancy of 74 percent and 38 percent of ventilators in use.
Interactive: Tracking the outbreak in Nevada through data
The state Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, reported 22,909 cases statewide, an increase of 491.
(Reports from health districts and county agencies place the case total slightly higher, at 22,933 as of late Monday.)
The state also reported three additional fatalities, bringing the death toll for the disease to 537.
The state’s infection rate, considered a better indicator of the trend of the outbreak in the state than new cases or deaths, increased for the 19th consecutive day to 7.4 percent.
The rate, calculated by dividing the number of confirmed cases by people tested, declined steadily for more than two months and bottomed out at 5.2 percent on June 14 before beginning its current resurgence on June 18.
Factors such as the increased volume of testing, the reopening of “nonessential businesses,” large protests and poor adherence to safety guidelines such as use of face masks and social distancing all are believed to be contributing to the recent increases.
To date, 309,995 Nevadans have undergone 376,887 COVID-19 tests, according to health officials.
Caleb Cage, the state’s COVID-19 response director, said Monday it was too soon to assess whether Gov. Steve Sisolak’s mandatory mask directive issued June 25 has made an impact on the transmission of the coronavirus.
“We are not expecting to see a decrease in cases from this mandate for another week or two,” Cage said at his daily briefing. He added that it “is equally important to note that cases posted this weekend are not reflective of the behaviors that we saw over the holiday weekend. As with previous holidays, changes will not be reflected for another two or three weeks in the future.”
At Monday’s briefing, Julia Peek, deputy administrator for Community Health Services in the state Division of Public and Behavioral Health, said that of Nevada’s nearly 23,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,649, or 20 percent, had been identified through contact tracing.
Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writers Bill Dentzer and Max Michor contributed to this report.
