COVID hospitalizations in Nevada drop to lowest level since March

Nevada on Friday reported 334 new coronavirus cases and two additional deaths, as hospitalizations dipped to the lowest level in nearly two months, according to state data.

The updated figures posted to the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus website brought totals in the state to 322,352 cases and 5,552 deaths since the pandemic began.

As of Friday’s report, there are 265 people in Nevada hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, which is 30 fewer than the day prior.

The total matched the hospitalizations reported on March 29, the lowest point of a three-month steady decline in hospital totals and other disease metrics, according to state data and records maintained by the Review-Journal.

The new cases reported Friday remained higher than the 14-day moving average of daily reported cases, which dropped slightly to 168. A brief increase in the metric last month topped out at 310 on April 21, and the rate has been trending downward since, state data shows.

The deaths recorded on Friday matched the two-week average of two daily reported deaths. May began with the average at five, but the metric started decreasing two weeks ago.

State officials have said that due to delayed reports and redistributed data, it is normal for daily figures to be higher than the moving averages. State and county health agencies redistribute the 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.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, decreased by 0.1 percentage points on Friday, reaching 4.7 percent. The metric, which changes slowly day to day, has decreased by one percentage point since May 1, state data shows.

The rate dropped below 5 percent, which is the World Health Organization’s target to prevent spread of the disease, this week for the first time in more than a month.

Clark County’s two-week positivity rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points on Friday to match the state average at 4.7 percent.

The county reported 258 new coronavirus cases and one additional death, according to data posted to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website.

Cumulative totals for Clark County rose to 249,831 cases and 4,376 deaths.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.