Nevada sees record 34 COVID-19 deaths as case numbers remain down
Nevada added 602 new cases of COVID-19 and a record 34 deaths over the preceding day, according to state data posted Thursday.
Figures posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on the nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website increased the case total for the state to 58,650 and pushed the death toll to 1,030. Local health districts and counties have reported more cases, 58,806 as of late Thursday.
The fatalities reported by the state surpassed the 29 reported on July 31 and again on Friday as the biggest single-day increase in the death toll since the outbreak began.
New cases were below the daily average of nearly 746 over the preceding week, while fatalities were far above the daily average of just over 15 for the period.
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Hospitalizations of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients in the state decreased by 16 over the preceding day, bringing the total to 982. That was well below the levels seen over the previous two weeks, when they hovered between 1,100 and 1,165.
The Nevada Hospital Association said the state is seeing “a downward trend in COVID-19 hospitalizations” but noted that some individual facilities remain at or near capacity in their intensive care units.
The state infection or positivity rate, considered a better bellwether of the trend of the outbreak than daily new cases or death reports, remained unchanged at 11 percent. That was just the third time since June 17, when it bottomed out at 5.20 percent, that the rate hasn’t increased in the daily updates.
The rate, calculated by dividing confirmed cases by the number of people tested, essentially tracks whether the disease caused by the coronavirus is spreading in the state. But it can be affected by other factors, including the number of tests performed, who’s being tested and contact tracing, among other things.
Testing for COVID-19 picked back up in Thursday’s report, with 9,977 added after two successive days when 4,000-plus were conducted.
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The Southern Nevada Health District, meanwhile, reported 488 new COVID-19 cases and 27 additional deaths in Clark County.
New figures posted on the district’s coronavirus web page boosted the case total for the county to 50,569 and raised the death toll to 869.
It was the third straight day that the health district has reported fewer than 500 new cases in the county, with Thursday’s total was well below the daily average of nearly 646 over the preceding week.
Fatalities, on the other hand, registered the second-highest single-day increase of the outbreak, just one short of the 28 reported on Saturday. They were nearly twice the daily average of just over 14 for the preceding week.
Both the state and the health district redistribute data after it is reported to better reflect when sickness or death occurred, so detailed data they provide generally doesn’t match with the daily totals.
Contact Mike Brunker at mbrunker@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4656. Follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.
