Nevada sees gains in COVID-19 data

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Nevada has been trending downward, with the number of new deaths on Thursday hitting a single-day record of 34 across the state. The number of deaths in the state now stands at 1,030.

In a daily teleconference call with media on Wednesday, Nevada COVID-19 Response Director Caleb Cage and Deputy Administrator of Community Health Services Julia Peek noted several positive trends, including a stabilization in the cumulative test positivity rate since Aug. 1. They stressed that this “positive shift is likely directly attributable to mitigation efforts in place, and should not be interpreted as a reason to decrease those efforts.”

As of Wednesday, Aug. 12, Nevada logged 58,048 cases of COVID-19, an increase of 528 over Tuesday. Of those new cases, 435 were in Clark County and 72 were in Washoe County. On the day of the call, 15 new deaths were reported by the state. On Thursday, the number of new deaths reported jumped to 34, the highest single day jump.

An additional 602 cases were reported on Thursday by the state, with the total now standing at 58,650.

During the media call, Cage noted that for the most recent seven-day period, cases were growing at a rate of 1.4%, or 747 new cases per day, compared to 2.3%, or 1,037 new cases per day for the week ending July 31. The rate was 1.4%, or 116 daily cases, for the week ending May 31.

As of Thursday, according to state data, 727,283 molecular tests had been completed since the beginning of the pandemic.

At the time of the call, the cumulative test positivity rate in Nevada was at 10.5% with a daily positivity rate of 12.7%. The cumulative rate remained unchanged on Thursday with the daily positivity rate rising to 14.2%.

As of Wednesday, the state experienced a slight increase from 971 to 978 of patients hospitalized. While occupancy rates have increased, Nevada continues to have enough hospital capacity to meet medical demands and the medical infrastructure in the state remains “in fair condition overall and in good condition in Northern Nevada,” Cage and Peek reported.

The hospital occupancy rate as of Monday was 73%, intensive care units were at 64% occupancy, and 39% of ventilators statewide are in use.

Cage and Peek said that 9,187 cases have been identified as a result of contact tracing, which is 15.8% of the total cases reported as of Wednesday.

Nye County cases

Nye County tracked a total of 416 cases on Thursday since the start of the pandemic. As of Thursday, 42 of those 416 cases were reported as positives in the previous seven days. Of the overall case count, 58 were within the Nye County Detention Centers in Pahrump and Tonopah. Also, 10 cases have been reported among inmates by the Nevada Southern Detention Center since the beginning of the health crisis.

Pahrump has seen the largest number of cases in Nye County, with 377 of the overall total since the first positive case was reported in Beatty in March.

No other towns within Nye County had a reported positive case of COVID-19 within the last seven days as of Thursday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Tonopah has had 14 positives reported, with Amargosa Valley also having 14 cases. Beatty has seen nine cases, with two in Smoky Valley, according to data from Nye County.

Nye County also reports that there has been seven antibody positives, though these are not included in the overall totals.

According to the state, 12 Nye County residents have died of COVID-19. Three of those deaths were reported on Thursday by Nye County, all of them were Pahrump residents. According to Nye County, per state analysis, COVID-19 deaths generally correspond to cases diagnosed up to five weeks prior.