Nevada sees lowest COVID-19 case gain in a month, but 18 more die

Nevada recorded 548 new cases of COVID-19 — the lowest one-day total in more than a month — and 18 additional deaths over the preceding day, according to state data posted Tuesday.

Data posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on its nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website brought the case total to 57,520 — the lowest overnight jump since the agency reported 516 cases on July 7. Reports from local health districts and counties placed it slightly higher, at 57,607 as of late Tuesday.

The new fatalities increased the death toll to 981, according to the state data.

New cases were far below the daily average of nearly 825 for the preceding week, while the deaths were slightly above the daily average of nearly 17 for the period.

The state infection or positivity rate, which captures the proportion of the population infected by the new coronavirus among those tested, posted its fifth straight daily increase to reach 10.96 percent.

The rate, which experts say is a better indicator of the trend of the outbreak than new cases or deaths, reached a high of more than 12 percent in late April before declining over the next two months to 5.20 percent on June 17. It has risen every day but two since then to reach its current level.

The news was better on hospitalizations, with the number of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients occupying beds dipping to 971.

The Nevada Hospitalization confirmed the decrease over the past two weeks and said hospitals were operating below capacity with two exceptions: “Some individual facilities within Southern Nevada are experiencing stress due to high occupancy rates in both the general hospital and intensive care units. Staffing shortages have also been reported in approximately five hospitals throughout the state.”

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The Southern Nevada Health District also reported a relatively low number of new COVID-19 cases — 495 — the smallest one-day increase since the district tallied 472 cases on July 6. But deaths were above the average of the preceding week with 17.

The new cases posted by the district on its coronavirus web page brought the total for the county to 49,646, while the death toll climbed to 828. The district estimates that 42,137 of those who contracted the disease have recovered.

New cases were well below the daily average of nearly 727 for the preceding week, while fatalities were slightly above the daily average of nearly 16 over the period.

Both the health district and the state redistribute cases and deaths after they are reported in an attempt to better reflect when a person got sick or died. As a result, the totals announced daily generally don’t match the reworked data for that date.

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