Nevada’s new COVID-19 cases continue to fall, but deaths remain high

Nevada reported 750 new coronavirus cases over the preceding day, continuing “a sustained positive downward trend” in new cases of the disease, the state’s chief biostatistician said Wednesday.

Although reported deaths remained high, with 49 on the day, other more forward-looking disease metrics have been decreasing since mid-January, the biostatistician, Kyra Morgan, said at a news briefing on the state’s COVID-19 response.

“This is the first time we’ve seen (that),” she added.

The state’s positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested who are found to have the disease, also has been falling in lockstep with new cases, dropping from a recent high of 21.7 percent to 16.9 percent on Wednesday. That was a 0.2 percentage point decrease from the previous day.

The update posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services on its coronavirus website brought state totals to 280,707 cases and 4,373 deaths.

Officials continue to stress the need to continue following health guidelines so that cases don’t spike again.

“We are certainly concerned about the Super Bowl coming up,” said Michelle White, Gov. Steve Sisolak’s chief of staff. “We know what happens when people gather in large numbers, outside their household.”

The new cases were below the moving 14-day average of daily reported cases, which dropped to 896. Tuesday was the first time the rate had fallen below 1,000 since Nov. 4, when it stood at 996, according to the state data.

Deaths statistics tend to reflect the state of the pandemic from about five or more weeks ago rather than the current status, state officials have said.

As of Wednesday, there were 1,145 people in Nevada hospitalized with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases, which is 64 fewer than the previous day, state data shows.

The Nevada Hospital Association has reported that the state is seeing a decrease in hospitalizations in recent weeks, especially in the northern region.

Statewide, 66 percent of all adult intensive care beds were occupied as of Wednesday’s report, 25 percent of them by suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients, it showed.

In Southern Nevada, 73 percent of the region’s adult ICU beds were occupied, 30 percent of them filled by coronavirus patients.

Clark County on Wednesday reported 652 new coronavirus cases and 38 additional deaths, according to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website. The updated figures brought totals in the county to 216,121 cases and 3,351 fatalities.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.