Nevada adds highest 1-day total of new COVID-19 cases in 6 weeks

Nevada on Wednesday reported 447 new coronavirus cases — the highest single-day total in six weeks — and one additional death over the preceding day.

Updated figures posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on the state coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 330,362 COVID-19 cases and 5,654 deaths.

A data entry error resulted in incorrect reporting on the state’s death total on Friday but has been corrected, department officials said.

New cases remained well above the moving 14-day average of daily reported cases, which declined slightly to 165. The figure reported Wednesday was the highest single-day total since the state reported 464 new cases on May 12, according to records maintained by the Review-Journal.

Deaths were lower than the moving average of two fatalities daily over the same period.

State officials have said that it is normal for daily figures to be higher than the moving averages due to delayed reports and redistributed data. State and county health agencies frequently redistribute the 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.

But new case numbers have been trending higher in recent weeks, with the 14-day moving average for the former rising from a low of 132 on June 5 to 165 on Wednesday.

Hospitalizations of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases also have been creeping higher, with 281 reported on Wednesday compared to a recent low of 178 on June 12, according to state data.

Gov. Steve Sisolak noted the rise on Twitter Wednesday, adding that none of those hospitalized had been vaccinated.

This morning, I read the weekly @NVHospitals report, which noted a modest increase in hospitalizations due to #COVID19. According to the report, the commonality in all these hospitalizations is that none of the people have been vaccinated.

— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) June 23, 2021

“We know that in the last year and a half, the effects of this deadly virus have not changed, but our tools to fight the virus have – we now have vaccines, which are highly effective at reducing the severity of cases, hospitalization, & deaths,” he said.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially measures the percentage of people tested who were found to be infected with the virus, also increased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.0 percent in Wednesday’s update.

The rate has risen more than half a percentage point since it hit a low point of 3.3 percent on June 9. It reached 4.0 percent for the first time in nearly two months.

The positivity rate for Clark County, meanwhile, increased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.2 percent.

Clark County also reported 411 new coronavirus cases, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website. The county did not report any deaths on Wednesday.

Cumulative totals for Clark County rose to 256,826 cases and 4,471 deaths.

County numbers are reflected in the statewide totals.

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