Clark County’s COVID-19 test positivity rate continues to rise

Clark County on Monday reported 954 new COVID-19 cases and 31 deaths over the preceding three days as its test positivity rate continued to climb.

Updated figures posted by the Southern Nevada Health District pushed totals for the county to 346,841 cases of the disease and 6,258 deaths.

The average of new cases from Friday through Sunday was 318 per day, well above the two-week moving average of 297 per day, according to state data. The longer-term average was unchanged from Friday’s report.

Fatalities from the disease also were well above the 14-day moving average of four per day, also unchanged from Friday.

The county’s 14-day test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, stood at 7 percent on Monday, 0.2 percentage points higher than the 6.8 percent reported Friday.

The test positivity rate, considered a leading indicator that typically moves before hospitalizations and deaths, has now climbed 1.2 percentage points from its recent low of 5.8 percent on Nov. 3, the state data show.

Hospitalizations of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in the county stood at 522, eight fewer than on Friday, with 134 being treated in intensive care units.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

The state Department of Health and Human Services, meanwhile, reported 1,522 new COVID-19 cases and 40 deaths from Friday through Sunday.

Updated figures posted on the state’s coronavirus website pushed pandemic totals to 461,479 confirmed cases and 8,110 deaths.

The average of 507 new COVID-19 cases per day over the three days were well above the two-week moving average of 456 per day. The average itself jumped by 39 per day from Friday.

Fatalities over the period were more than double the two-week moving average of six per day.

The state test positivity rate for the disease caused by the new coronavirus stood at 7.4 percent on Monday, up 0.1 percentage point from Friday’s report.

The state reported 641 confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations, seven fewer than the total on Friday.

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.

The percentage of Nevadans considered vaccinated reached 52.95 percent of the eligible 5 and older group. That compares to a rate of 52.22 percent in Clark County.

A previous version of this article contained an incorrect case total for Clark County.

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