Nevada registered above-average numbers of new coronavirus cases and deaths on Friday, but state data shows that all key metrics for COVID-19 have been steadily declining for more than a month.
Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services published on the state’s coronavirus website showed 420 new cases of coronavirus and 26 additional deaths over the previous day. This raised the total accumulated in the state to 290,300 cases and 4,831 deaths.
The 14-day moving average of daily reported cases dropped to 410 on Friday, just below the daily total, state data show. The rate has been falling steadily since it peaked at 2,065 on January 15.
New deaths were also higher than the 13-day moving daily average. But the average has dropped since the peak of 39 from 10 to 15 January, according to the data.
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 the outbreak. .
Data Guide: Impact of COVID-19 in Nevada
Another important parameter, the state’s two-week positivity rate, continued to decline, dropping 0.6 percentage points in the daily report to 10.7 percent, according to state data. The rate, which essentially measures the percentage of people tested with COVID-19, is now less than half the peak rate of 21.6% on January 13.
Confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations are also decreasing, with 670 occupied beds listed on Friday’s data, minus 28 from the previous day and just over a third of the 1,727 patients hospitalized a month ago, state data show.
Despite the encouraging signs, state officials remain vigilant to see how the relaxation of some COVID-19 restrictions this week by Governor Steve Sisolak and public behavior will affect the metrics.
Caleb Cage, the state’s response director for COVID-19, said at a virtual press conference on Friday that Nevadians should not become complacent with security measures, noting that previous falls in metrics were followed by peaks that erased and exceeded those gains.
“We need to make sure that people are not relaxing around mitigation measures,” said Cage. “We need to make sure that people continue to wear masks – that’s why the governor kept the state mask mandate in place. We need to make sure that people are taking hand washing, social detachment, all these things seriously. ”
“We also need to make sure that our local partners after May 1 are putting in serious plans and mitigation measures to ensure that we don’t have an increased spread across the state of the virus after the transition occurs,” said Cage, referring to a clause in the Sisolak plan that will return control of most virus mitigation efforts to local jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, Clark County recorded 336 new coronavirus cases and an additional 25 deaths the previous day, according to data published on the Southern Nevada Health District coronavirus website. The updated figures bought totals in the municipality of 223,960 cases and 3,749 deaths.
The county’s two-week positivity rate decreased by 0.5 percentage point to 12 percent – 1.3 percentage points more than for the state as a whole, according to state data.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at [email protected] or 702-383-0240. follow @k_newberg on twitter.