Nevada COVID-19 metrics continue statewide drop

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Clark County made significant strides over the past week in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

CDC data placed the county in its “substantial” rate of transmission category on Tuesday, down from the “high” transmission category.

Southern Nevada Health District officials said last week that they believed CDC metrics showing the county in “high” were incorrect, and that figures throughout the county were much lower than the ones reported by the CDC. The CDC and state health officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment over the last week.

Nevertheless, the county’s 7-day case rate per 100,000 people stood at 68.38 on Tuesday, a sharp drop from a week ago. The county’s 7-day test positivity rate, which tracks the percentage of people tested who are found to be infected with COVID-19, was at 4.33 percent, the lowest marker it’s hit in months.

Meanwhile, Clark County reported 326 new coronavirus cases and 21 deaths on Tuesday. That brought totals posted by the health district to 489,721 cases and 7,591 deaths.

Overall numbers continued their recent declines. The two-week moving average of daily new cases fell from 113 to 105, while the two-week moving average of daily deaths held at four.

The county’s 14-day test positivity rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 6.1 percent. The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in the county also decreased, from 245 on Monday to 231.

Related: Tracking coronavirus in Nevada

Meanwhile, the state reported 359 new cases and 24 deaths, bringing totals posted by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services to 647,600 cases and 9,844 deaths.

New cases were well above the two-week moving average, which nonetheless declined from 160 on Monday to 148. The two-week moving average of daily deaths jumped from five to six.

Of the state’s other closely-watched metrics, the 14-day test positivity rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 5.6 percent, while the number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 declined by eight to 278.

State and county health agencies often redistribute daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, which is why the moving-average trend lines frequently differ from daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak.

As of Tuesday, state data showed that 56.70 percent of Nevadans five and older were fully vaccinated, compared with 56.07 percent in Clark County.

That number varies widely throughout the state. Carson City has the state’s highest vaccination rate, at 65.06 percent, while Storey County has the lowest, at 24.83 percent.

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