Nevada adds 410 new COVID-19 cases, Clark County more than 300

The state of Nevada recorded more than 400 new cases of COVID-19 for the first time in the outbreak and Clark County added more than 300 new cases over the preceding day, giving fresh indications that infections from the new coronavirus are on the upswing, according to data posted Friday.

Both the Southern Nevada Health District and the state Department of Health and Human Services reported three additional deaths from disease caused by the new coronavirus in their daily data updates.

The 410 new cases reported on the state’s nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website eclipsed the previous record one-day increase of 379 new cases reported on Monday. The figure was also well above the daily average of just over 239.

The infection rate, considered by public health officials to be a better indicator of the trend of the outbreak in the state, also increased, jumping from 5.23 percent on Thursday to 5.41 percent. The rate, the number of positive cases divided by the number of people tested, had been trending downward for two months before bottoming out over the last 12 days and registering several small daily upticks. Friday’s increase of 0.18 percentage points was the biggest jump seen so far since the rate appeared to bottom out.

Other factors at play

The increased availability of COVID-19 testing likely plays a role in the number of new cases reported, as the increased volume of checks on people with mild, moderate or even no symptoms is expected to catch cases that would have been missed when only the sickest patients were being tested.

Testing availability in Nevada has increased dramatically since mid-May, with an average of more than 6,100 tests administered daily over the preceding week, including 4,539 in the report issued Friday.

But public experts suspect recent events such as the gradual reopening of the state’s businesses and large public protests that erupted in Las Vegas and Reno late last month may be contributing to the recent surge.

Problems reporting data to the state also can cause what appear to be big jumps in the number of cases or deaths on a given day, which may have played a part in Friday’s report. On Thursday, Washoe County authorities reported that a problem at the state lab in Reno had caused two days worth of data to be reported on a single day, producing what appeared to be a record single-day increase of 83 cases in the county. That data apparently was reflected in the state report, though it would not account for a significant percentage of the total.

The Southern Nevada Health District, meanwhile, reported 317 new cases on its coronavirus web page, bringing the total for the county to 9,852. The figure was well above the daily average for the preceding week of 205. The district estimates that 7,278 of those patients have recovered.

The three additional fatalities reported Friday by both agencies pushed the state death toll to 478 and the death toll for the county to 390. Both figures were above the daily average of just under two for the preceding week.

The health district also reported 26 new hospitalizations, the highest number since the district reported that same figure on May 20. Hospital beds in Southern Nevada, including those in intensive care units, remained well below capacity, the Nevada Hospital Association reported this week.

‘Seeing a sustained increase’

In a statement, the health district said its public health experts expected an increase in cases as businesses reopened because of the increased interactions and exposure of community members, in addition to more testing availability.

“We do believe that we are seeing a sustained increase in disease transmission in our community, which can’t be explained only by the increased level of community testing,” it added. “We want to remind people about the importance of wearing cloth face coverings and social distancing when they go out to reduce the risks of spreading COVID-19. We are continuing to look at the number of hospitalizations and deaths as a way to measure what is happening in the community.”

Interactive: Tracking the coronavirus’ impact on Nevada through data

The state health district often redistribute cases and deaths after they are reported to other dates to better reflect when the onset of symptoms began, so the detailed breakdowns provided by the district often don’t match the total cases and deaths announced daily.

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.