Nevada reports lowest COVID death toll in more than a week

Nevada on Wednesday reported 390 new coronavirus cases and four additional deaths.

Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services posted on the state’s coronavirus website brought totals to 314,475 cases and 5,448 deaths.

New cases remained well above the moving 14-day average of daily reported cases, which dropped to 235. The number of fatalities was the lowest total since three were reported on April 19, but were slightly above the average of three daily recorded deaths during the same time period.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially measures the percentage of people tested who are found to be infected with COVID-19, was unchanged for the third day in a row at 5.7 percent.

The rate had been declining steadily for about three months before it rose again in April, reaching another peak of 5.9 percent early last week. The rate has been mostly unchanged since then.

For the past two weekends, the state has stopped updating disease metrics, likely inflating case numbers, deaths and hospitalizations reported early in the week. But since state and county health agencies often redistribute the daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, it hasn’t hampered the state’s ability to track the outbreak.

“From my perspective, there’s been no negative consequences of ceasing the weekend updates,” state biostatistician Kyra Morgan said Wednesday. Officials recommend that the public follow the moving-average trend lines posted on the state website, which are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak than the daily reports.

There were 345 people hospitalized in Nevada with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday’s report, up 15 from the previous day.

Clark County on Wednesday added 336 new coronavirus cases, along with three additional deaths, according to figures posted to the Southern Nevada Health District’s coronavirus website. Cumulative totals in the county rose to 243,155 cases and 4,284 deaths.

The county’s two-week test positivity rate increased by 0.1 percentage points Wednesday, reaching 5.6 percent, according to state data.

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