COVID-19 cases increase in Nye County

UPDATE: Nye County reported one positive result for COVID-19 on Wednesday and seven more cases on Saturday, April 18,, bringing Pahrump's total to 22 and one recovery. One of the positive results was a Nye County detention center employee. Employees and inmates are going to be tested, according to the sheriff's office. To date, there were 28 cases in Nye, with two recoveries. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Pahrump increased by a half-dozen as of Tuesday.

A total of nine new cases were added to an online portal, set up by the county with updates on the number of COVID-19 patients in Nye, across Monday and Tuesday. Three of those cases were in Tonopah with six in Pahrump.

A spokesman for the county confirmed through an email that Pahrump now has had a total of 13 cases with one patient reported as recovered by the state.

With the new cases, the number of positive test results reported to Nye stands at 19, where two of those patients are being reported as recovered by the state, including the Pahrump patient and one person in Beatty. The Beatty patient, a man in his 60s, was Nye County’s first reported case.

Tonopah had its first reported case of COVID-19 on Tuesday, April 6. One person in Amargosa Valley is also positive for the virus, according to the county.

According to the county’s online portal, the number of tests reported to the county as of Tuesday is approximately 450.

The county derives its information from the state and private clinics, according to its portal.

For information on data for Nye County, head to www.nyecounty.net/1066/Coronavirus-COVID-19- Information

The COVID-19 outbreak has been spreading across Nevada for the last several weeks. The number of positive cases in the state, at the time of this writing, is 3,088. The number of deaths in the state is 130 as of Tuesday, according to the data from the state.

For more state-level information, head to tinyurl.com/r9q9d46

On the Southern Nevada Health District’s website, an update for COVID-19 on Tuesday showed that cases in Clark County were 2,509 with 1,141 recovered and 106 deaths. No deaths have been reported in Nye County.

According to information from Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, 589,048 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. with 45,079 people recovered. More than 25,000 deaths are being tracked by Johns Hopkins.

For more, head to https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Drive-up testing will be available in Pahrump at the Nye County Administrative offices from 8 a.m. to noon. The offices are at 2100 E. Walt Williams Drive, Suite 100.

People looking to get tested must pre-register. Patients must complete a COVID-19 testing questionnaire, which is online at www.nyecountysheriffsoffice.com

According to a flyer from the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, “The doctor will contact you for pre-screening and schedule you for a test.”

People who have trouble completing the form online can call Capt. David Boruchowitz at 775-751-4234. The test takes 5-7 minutes, according to the flyer.

Chemisys Laboratory, through Serenity Health, has partnered with the county and the sheriff’s office to bring drive-up testing to Pahrump and other parts of Nye County. Gov. Steve Sisolak, government officials across the nation and some health experts have reported a shortage in the number of test kits needed for COVID-19.

Contact Interim Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com