State reports 28 COVID-19 deaths — most reported in 1 day

Nevada on Tuesday saw the most deaths reported in one day due to the coronavirus, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Of the 28 deaths reported by the state health department on Tuesday morning, 26 were reported in Clark County, according to data from the Southern Nevada Health District. The death toll in the county is now 553, while the total across the state has reached 676 deaths.

While state data showed 102 deaths in Washoe County, the updated county website showed three additional deaths reported later Tuesday, bringing the total in Washoe to 105. The deaths in Washoe bump up Tuesday’s total of statewide deaths to 31.

Tuesday was the first time since April that the state has reported more than 20 deaths in a single day. It was unclear if all of the 31 people died on Monday, as there is often a delay in reporting cases.

During a news conference Tuesday, Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who also serves as the vice chair of the health district’s Board of Health, said Tuesday’s upticks in daily reported deaths haven’t triggered any changes to the county’s coronavirus response.

“I’m very sad for those families that had to endure that, but we will continue as we have,” Kirkpatrick said.

She urged anyone with symptoms to quickly get tested so they can start being treated for the virus.

“Early detection makes a big difference,” Kirkpatrick said during the news conference. “So we are continuing on our path and testing.”

Local health district and state data can differ because of different reporting times. Both the state and Southern Nevada Health District also redistribute new cases and death data after daily announcements in an attempt to show when a patient started experiencing symptoms or when a death occurred.

The county data also comes with a disclaimer that daily totals may be skewed when a large number of laboratory tests are reported late.

When asked if the deaths reported on Tuesday were due to delayed reports, county health district spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore said at about 1 p.m. that officials are still analyzing the data.

“Typically, there is a delay in reporting and these (deaths) would not be from the previous day,” she said in an email.

Highest number of hospitalized patients

For the second day in a row, Nevada reported the highest number of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized. State data on Tuesday showed that 1,095 people with confirmed or suspected cases were hospitalized, overtaking the record set on Monday, at 1,086.

There were 713 additional cases reported in Clark County on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the county to 32,025, according to the Health District. Across Nevada, there were 815 additional cases reported, bringing the total caseload in the state to 37,528.

An estimated total of 22,084 people in Clark County have recovered from the virus, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.

Infection rate still climbing

The infection rate on Tuesday continued to climb, reaching 9.47 percent, according to the state data. Experts consider the rate — the number of cases divided by the number of people who have been tested — a better indicator of the outbreak trends in Nevada than new cases.

The rate had been declining for more than two months before hitting a low of 5.20 percent on June 17. It has risen every day but one since then.

There were five new cases reported in Nye County on Tuesday, all in Pahrump. The county reported that there are now 251 confirmed cases throughout Nye County, 222 of which were in Pahrump.

In another development, data updated Tuesday on the Metropolitan Police Department’s website showed that 128 of the department’s employees have tested positive for the virus, with an additional 51 people awaiting test results. There are 633 employees who have been tested.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Max Michor contributed to this report.