Nevada on Wednesday reported higher than average numbers of new coronavirus cases and deaths during the previous day, but the state’s positivity rate continued its recent decline, reaching 8.6 percent – a level not seen since the end of October.
Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services published on the state’s coronavirus website showed 516 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths over the previous day. This increased Nevada’s cumulative total to 292,059 cases and 4,919 deaths.
The new cases were well above the 14-day moving average of 335 a day, while deaths were almost 50 percent higher than the daily moving average of 11 during the period.
But Caleb Cage, director of the state’s COVID-19 response, noted that new cases have dropped dramatically recently, falling 55 percent in the past two weeks.
Nevada’s average daily cases are now less than half the levels during last summer’s peak and the state now has the fourth lowest number of cases (daily average of cases in the last seven days per 100,000 residents) among the 50 states, he said.
COVID-19 deaths are also decreasing, but only now are falling below the peak of the summer peak, Cage noted.
The state’s positivity rate, in turn, fell 0.3 percentage points from the previous day in Wednesday’s update, and now has dropped 13 percentage points from the 21.6 percent increase registered on January 13. . The rate, which basically tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID 19 who are determined to be infected, was the last low on October 21, when it stood at 8.5 percent.
Hospitalizations of patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 also continued to decline, with 534 beds occupied, 47 less than the day before, according to state data.
Both state and local health agencies often redistribute data after reporting to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, which is why the moving average trend lines may differ from daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of outbreak.
Meanwhile, Clark County registered 357 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional deaths over the previous day, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
This raised cumulative totals for the county to 225,301 cases and 3,827 deaths.
The county’s 14-day test positivity rate was 9.7%, or 1.1% higher than the state average.
Contact Mike Brunker at [email protected] or 702-383-4656. follow @mike_brunker on twitter.