Nevada reports 966 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths

Las Vegas Review-Journal

4 years ago

Nevada National Guard soldier PFC Nikolas Herrera carries tests and supplies during a walk-thru ... — Nevada National Guard soldier PFC Nikolas Herrera carries tests and supplies during a walk-thru testing demonstration following the Clark County media briefing at the new UNLV Tropicana Avenue parking garage COVID-19 testing site that opens Wednesday on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 in Las Vegas. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images

Nevada recorded 966 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the state total past 40,000, as well as 13 additional deaths over the preceding day, according to data posted Friday.

The new cases posted on the the Department of Health and Human Services’ nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website were below the daily average for the preceding week of just over 1,143. They pushed total cases in the state to 40,885. Reports from health districts and counties placed the total higher, at 41,020 as of late Friday.

Fatalities were higher than the daily average of more than 11 for the period and brought the state death toll from the disease caused by the new coronavirus to 722.

Hospitalizations, meanwhile, continued to set new highs, with 1,160 confirmed and suspected cases occupying hospital beds, according to the state data. That was up by 24 patients from Thursday’s update.

The state infection or positivity rate — the number of confirmed cases divided by the number of people tested — continued to tick higher, hitting 9.74 percent.

The rate, considered a better barometer of the trend of the outbreak in Nevada than new cases or deaths, declined for more than two months before bottoming out at 5.20 percent on June 17. Since then it has steadily increased.

Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada Health District reported 791 new COVID-19 cases and 11 additional deaths in Clark County over the preceding day.

The new cases posted Friday on the district’s coronavirus website, which pushed the county total to 35,000, were well below the daily average of more than 1,040 for the preceding week. The district estimates that 26,025 of those who contracted the illness have recovered.

The fatalities, which raised the county death toll to 591, were slightly above the daily average of just over 10 during the period.

The district report also showed 25 new hospitalizations for confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases over the preceding day.

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