Clark County surpasses 6K COVID-19 deaths as new cases rise again

Clark County surpassed 6,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Thursday as the rate of new cases of the disease and hospitalizations rose for third time this week.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District showed 448 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths in the county during the previous day, pushing totals to 333,926 cases of the disease and 6,001 fatalities.

New cases were well above the two-week moving average of 324 per day, while the longer term measure increased by 10 from the previous day, state data showed.

The average has been climbing from a recent low of 293 cases per day a week ago, returning the county to the “high” risk of transmission category on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s rating system after it dropped into the “substantial” category for a single day.

The county reached the substantial risk category when the seven-day moving average of new cases per 100,000 population dropped to 92.69 on Monday, below the threshold of 100. The rate rebounded on Tuesday, however, and as of Thursday afternoon stood at 122.16 new cases per 100,000 over the previous seven days, according to the CDC.

Deaths in the county were more than double the 14-day average of four per day in Thursday’s report, though the average itself was unchanged.

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.

Hospitalizations of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients, meanwhile, jumped by 35 to 523 in Monday’s update, state data show. That figure also has been increasing over the past week.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

The county’s 14-day test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, remained unchanged at 5.8 percent.

The increases in new cases in Nevada may be mirroring a national trend, which has seen the seven-day moving average of new U.S. cases increase from a recent low of 62,910 per day to 74,826 as of Monday, the most recent CDC data available. Deaths and hospitalizations, which tend to lag behind leading indicators like new cases and test positivity rate, have continued to decrease over the period.

The federal government does not track test positivity rates nationally.

The state Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, reported 929 new COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths during the preceding day.

That brought state totals to 442,845 cases and 7,692 deaths.

New cases were close to double the 14-day moving average of 497 per day, while the average itself increased by 11 from the preceding day.

Fatalities were three times the 14-day moving average of six per day, which was unchanged from the previous day.

Hospitalizations of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients across the state also increased, jumping by 46 from Wednesday’s report to 739.

The state test positivity rate was unchanged at 6.6 percent.

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