Nevada adds 453 coronavirus cases, 3 deaths, 54 hospitalizations

Nevada on Wednesday reported 453 new coronavirus cases and three deaths over the preceding day.

Updated data from the Department of Health and Human Services posted on the state’s coronavirus website pushed the COVID-19 case total to 336,562 and the death toll to 5,705.

New cases were well above the two-week moving average of new cases of the disease, which declined slightly to 350 per day from the previous day.

The deaths reported Wednesday also exceeded average of two per day over the same period.

State data showed that Nevada’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, remained unchanged at 7.9 percent.

The data also showed that 584 people with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized in the state, an increase of 54 from Tuesday.

State and county health agencies often redistribute the 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.

Three of the state’s main COVID-19 metrics — new cases, positivity rate and hospitalizations — have been trending higher since early to mid-June, though all remain far below levels seen during the last major surge of the disease that peaked in late December and early January. Deaths have remained relatively flat since mid-April after dropping sharply from the winter peak.

Public health officials have said that the presence in the state of the so-called delta variant, a more contagious form of the coronavirus, has been largely driving the growth in new cases and hospitalizations, with unvaccinated residents accounting for nearly all of the new infections.

Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada Health District reported 347 new cases in Clark County on Wednesday, bringing the local cumulative case total to 262,481. It also reported two of the state’s deaths, bringing the number of deaths in the county to 4,515.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate also held steady at 8.7 percent.

County numbers are reflected in the statewide totals.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.