Clark County sees lowest overnight jump in COVID-19 cases in 6 weeks

Clark County recorded 43 new COVID-19 cases — the lowest overnight increase in more than six weeks — and eight additional deaths in the past day, according to data posted Friday by the Southern Nevada Health District.

The number of new cases was the lowest overnight total reported by the health district since 37 new cases were added on March 24. It brought the total cases reported for the county to 4,616, of whom 3,850 have recovered, the district estimates.

The deaths, however, were higher than the average of five a day reported over the previous week.

The state Health and Human Services Department, meanwhile, reported 118 new COVID-19 cases and eight additional deaths in Nevada.

The new cases brought the total reported by the state to 5,884. The state death toll increased to 301.

The positives were derived from tests on 53,344 people, resulting in an infection rate of 11.03 percent of those tested.

Reports from local health districts and county officials put the case total more than 50 cases higher, at 5,941. The reason for the discrepancy is not clear, but likely arises from different reporting cycles by different agencies.

The infection rate has been declining steadily for several weeks as more people who are not seriously ill have been tested. Public health officials will keep a close eye on the rate in the coming weeks to see if the reopening of more businesses in Nevada causes an increase in new infections.

In other developments Friday:

— The Regional Information Center in Washoe County reported 35 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death from the disease, that of a woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions. The report brought the total number of cases in the county to 1,065, 466 of whom have recovered, according to the center. The death raised the county death toll to 39.

— The number of “recovered” patients in state-regulated or state-run institutions, including nursing homes, listed on the state’s nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website declined by 20 cases overnight due to a reporting error. Meghin Delaney, a spokeswoman for the governor’s COVID-19 response team, said an error in reporting by some facilities had been corrected and was not expected to be an issue going forward.

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.