Every Nevada county in ‘low’ COVID community transmission level, CDC says

Nye County recorded nine new cases and four deaths from COVID-19 between March 16 and Wednesday, but data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed all of Nevada in the “low” community transmission level, a positive sign as the state moves forward in its pandemic response.

The deaths represent one person in Beatty and three in Pahrump.

More than 6,396 cases of the virus have been reported in Nye County since the first reported case here on March 14, 2020.

Until a few weeks ago, Nevada state officials had reported COVID-19 metrics each day on the statewide dashboard. But citing a number of factors, including “obsolete” statistics, the state Department of Health and Human Services announced on March 10 that it would only report numbers once a week, on Wednesdays.

Case numbers across the state have stayed relatively flat since then. Deaths are often reported well after the fact, and it isn’t always clear exactly when the newly reported deaths happened.

The state reported an increase of 941 cases and 60 deaths in the last week, bringing cumulative totals posted by the state Department of Health and Human Services to 658,075 cases and 10,091 deaths.

Of those new cases, 784 actually occurred in the last week, according to a state data spreadsheet that shows daily reports. Only six of the new deaths reported actually happened in the last week, but those numbers are often updated after the fact.

The two-week moving average of daily new cases rose by three to 99, while the two-week moving average of daily deaths dropped from three to two.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 also declined, from 192 last week to 140.

“We’re still in a relatively clam but vigilant state,” said Nancy Diao, division director of epidemiology and public health preparedness for the Washoe County Health District.

The new report came just a day after The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for Americans over age 50 and for certain younger people with severely weakened immune systems.

As of Wednesday, state data showed that 56.94 percent of Nevadans five and older were fully vaccinated, compared with 43.8 percent in Nye County.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.

Brent Schanding contributed to this report.