Nevada’s COVID-19 vaccination effort is underway.
Tens of thousands of state residents have already received the first of the vaccine’s two doses. Second doses are also being administered.
The state has adopted a two-lane vaccination plan that focuses on inoculating specific groups of essential workers alongside our older residents.
How and where to get a COVID vaccine in Las Vegas Valley.
Gov. Steve Sisolak has extended his statewide economic “pause” until mid-February.
Reducing gathering sizes and business occupancy limits will help reduce COVID-19 spread, officials say.
The number of newly reported cases began trending downward in mid-January.
The state released an official definition of what constitutes a death in October.
Most who died have been age 60 or older with underlying health issues. In Clark County, a large majority had underlying health conditions, making them more susceptible to severe outcomes, according to data.
More than 100 deaths have been announced every week since mid-November.
State health officials declared COVID-19 as Nevada’s leading cause of death in the month of December.
Clark County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have held relatively steady since mid-December, the Nevada Hospital Association reports.
Washoe County has seen a large drop since its peak in December.
State officials expect the numbers to rise due to increased spread from holiday gatherings.
As of early January, flu patients had not placed a significant burden on hospitals.
The state measures what portion of its staffed acute-care hospital beds are currently full. It also measures the number of licensed intensive care unit beds that are full.
Nurses at Las Vegas Valley hospitals reported facing staffing shortages in December.
* Confirmed cases + suspected cases.
State health officials are flagging counties that risk “elevated transmission” of COVID-19 on a daily basis.
Whether a county is at risk is determined by the average number of tests processed per day, what percentage of those tests are positive and the rate of COVID-19 cases based on the county’s population.
Nevada’s rising test positivity rate is one of several “early warning signs” state officials have flagged as signs of increased transmission of COVID-19.
The rate is calculated by dividing positive tests by the total number of tests administered.
The optimal goal set by the World Health Organization is 5 percent. Nevada’s rate has not been that low since June, and it has hovered around 20 percent since early December.
State officials measure the average rate of the past 14 days, with test results reflecting the date the testing specimen was collected.
The transmission rate predicts the average number of people who will be infected by each person already carrying the disease.
A transmission rate below 1 for the virus means “you get fewer cases in each generation (of infection), and it will burn itself out,” said UNLV Professor Brian Labus, a member of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s medical advisory team.
Nevada and all neighboring states saw a decrease in their average number of new cases in mid-December.
Some are now seeing a rebound in their numbers.
Comparing outbreaks between states with different population sizes can be achieved by measuring the number of cases for every 100,000 residents.
Of Nevada’s neighbors, Utah has seen the greatest share of population infected.
All of Nevada’s counties have now reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Clark County, home to two-thirds of the state’s population, has reported the vast majority of cases and deaths.
In the Las Vegas Valley, the virus has its strongest foothold in the north and east.
The hardest hit neighborhoods are also home to the valley’s greatest population of Latinos.
State health officials are tracking the age, gender and race of everyone who tests positive for COVID-19.
The same demographic information is being tracked for infected people who die.
The Southern Nevada Health District has reported 36 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in Clark County.
Hundreds of Nevada college students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since the state’s outbreak began.
The largest number of cases have been identified at the state’s public four-year universities, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Nevada, Reno.
This data is updated every Monday or Tuesday.
COVID-19 vaccination of residents and staff members at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Nevada were getting underway Dec. 21.
The state’s nursing homes remain concerned about the availability of protective equipment as the state entered flu season.
This data is updated every Tuesday.
Research, graphics credit: Wes Rand, Michael Scott Davidson, Severiano del Castillo Galvan
