Clark County reports 88 new COVID-19 cases as death toll tops 200

Another 88 cases of COVID-19 and six new fatalities were reported in Clark County over the past 24 hours, pushing the county death toll from the disease to 202, data published Thursday indicated.

The new cases reported by the Southern Nevada Health District on its coronavirus webpage — which brought the total cases reported in the county to 3,979 — was slightly below the average of 91 cases reported over the past seven days.

Meanwhile, Nevada’s COVID-19 total continued to climb Thursday, with 5,050 cases reported by local health districts and other officials. That was 52 more than the 4,998 cases reported earlier in the day by the state Health and Human Services Department. The department does not estimate how many of those patients have recovered.

The state figure was derived from tests on 41,986 people, resulting in an infection rate of 11.9 percent, according to data posted on the department’s website: nvhealthresponse.nv.gov.

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That figure is likely inflated, as the seriously ill and people who have had close contact with a diagnosed patient have been more likely to be tested amid an ongoing shortage of testing supplies.

The statewide death toll also rose by six to 243, likely reflecting the Clark County deaths reported early in the day.

While the state and county case and death numbers have been yo-yoing since the highs seen early to mid-April, some positive trends have emerged in the past week.

In Clark County, for example, the hospitalization rate among those who test positive for COVID-19 has registered seven straight daily decreases, falling from 25.95 percent on April 22 to 24.28 percent as of Thursday’s report.

The statewide infection rate among those tested has registered six straight declines, dropping from 12.6 percent on April 23 to 11.90 percent as of Thursday.

Both those trends may be indicators that more patients with mild to moderate symptoms are being tested even though the overall testing rate has remained stagnant.

In other developments Thursday:

■ Officials in Nye County reported 1 new COVID-19 case, bringing the total for the county to 37.

■ Washoe County authorities reported 25 additional COVID-19 cases, increasing the total for the state’s second-most-populous county to 873. The county, which also has reported 30 deaths, said 332 of the patients have recovered, while 43 remain hospitalized.

■ The Metropolitan Police Department reported that two additional employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the number of cases in the agency to 21. As of Wednesday, 179 employees have been tested; 153 have tested negative and five are awaiting results, it said.

Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.