Nevada COVID-19 metrics below average; positivity rate unchanged

Nevada public health officials Monday reported 203 new coronavirus cases and three additional deaths.

Updated numbers from the state Department of Health and Human Services brought Nevada’s cumulative totals to 296,393 cases and 5,040 deaths.

The two-week positivity rate, a key disease indicator that essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, remained unchanged from the previous day at 6.5 percent, according to state data. Nevada’s positivity rate has been falling since mid-January, when it reached a peak of 21.6 percent.

New cases were below the state’s 14-day moving average of 263 cases per day. Over the same period, Nevada has been averaging six deaths per day.

Health officials in many rural counties have moved away from weekend work, often resulting in lower-than-typical numbers on the weekends and Mondays, the state’s COVID-19 response director has said.

The Nevada Hospital Association reported that the state is continuing a downward trajectory of hospitalizations due to COVID-19, according to a news release. The hospital association said that, as of Monday’s report, there were 343 people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of the disease.

Meanwhile, in Clark County, officials reported 141 new cases, bringing the local cumulative total to 228,806 cases. The three deaths reported for the state Monday were from Clark County, pushing the local death toll to 3,934. Clark County’s tallies are included in statewide totals.

The county’s two-week positivity rate remained unchanged from the previous day at 7.1 percent.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.