Clark County records 80 new COVID-19 cases, 1 more death

Clark County has recorded 80 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death, according to data published by the Southern Nevada Health District on Monday morning.

Since March, a total of 8,815 county residents have tested positive for the new coronavirus. Of those, 379 have died and 6,626 are estimated to have recovered.

These new cases, along with those from elsewhere in Nevada, increase the number of cases statewide to 11,316, including 466 deaths, according to data published by state and county health officials. The vast majority of people are believed to have recovered.

State data shows the average daily number of cases for the past seven days is just over 213, the second highest since the first cases of the coronavirus were reported in Nevada in early March.

However, local authorities say the uptick is partially due to more testing being done than ever before. For a seven-day period ending Sunday, more tests — 40,121 — were conducted than in any previous week.

The cumulative percentage of people who have tested positive is 5.2 percent, down from the previous day’s 5.3 percent.

In terms of numbers of deaths, the seven-day average of deaths in the state was 1.4 on Sunday, far lower than the highest average of 9.3 on April 27, according to state data published Monday.

Coronavirus impact on Nevada explained through data

The number of hospitalizations confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases is considered a key metric in terms of assessing the scope of disease in communities. The number was 346 as of Sunday, in contrast to a high of 711 on April 8.

“The numbers of COVID-19 patients admitted each day to hospital remains flat through the past 14-day period, with only minor variation,” the Nevada Hospital Association stated on its website. According to the association, this indicates that the increased number of positive cases is “not manifesting into serious disease at this point,” but must be “closely monitored.”

“Nevada has exceeded the 14-day incubation period that included several milestones and noteworthy events without experiencing significant increases in hospitalizations,” the hospital association stated.

It noted that business reopening, along with some of the recent large protests that took place in Las Vegas and Reno, are now outside the disease incubation period, meaning that people people who were infected at these events would have become ill by now.

“The casinos’ reopening took place 10 days ago, without increases in hospitalizations to date,” the association stated.

But last week, UNLV professor Brian Labus, a member of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s medical advisory team, said it could take weeks before new cases linked to casinos reopening are identified.

Two bordering states, Utah and Arizona, are grappling with their worst surge yet of novel coronavirus cases, just weeks after tighter restrictions were lifted.

In other developments Monday, Washoe County reported 26 new coronavirus cases, raising the county’s total number of cases to 2,003. The county also reported one new death, for a total of 71.

In Washoe County, “The active COVID-19 case count is up two cases to 640, the second highest mark on record,” according to an update from the county’s Regional Information Center.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @DavidsonLVRJ on Twitter. Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.