Nevada adds highest one-day total of new COVID cases in nearly a month

The figure was the largest since the state reported 813 new cases on Feb. 13, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services posted on the state’s coronavirus website. It also was well above the 14-day moving average of 234 new cases per day, the state data showed.

The state also reported 13 new deaths from the disease caused by the new coronavirus, which also was well above the 14-day moving average of five fatalities per day.

The new reporting brought the state totals to 297,765 cases and 5,080 deaths.

Data guide: COVID-19’s impact on Nevada

Despite the higher-than-average numbers of cases and deaths, the state’s positivity rate remained unchanged at 6.0 percent. The rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are confirmed to be infected, has been declining steadily since peaking at 22.7 percent on Jan. 14.

State and county health agencies often redistribute 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.

There were 347 people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, 20 fewer than the day prior, according to the state data. Hospitalizations have been falling since they peaked at 2,126 on Dec. 22.

The Southern Nevada Health District, meanwhile, reported 541 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths in Clark County over the preceding day.

That brought the total cases in the county to 229,956 and fatalities to 3,971.

The test positivity rate in the county continued its recent decline, dropping 0.2 percentage points to 6.4 percent.

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