LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Governor Sisolak will give an update on Nevada’s COVID-19 situation on Sunday, nearly two weeks after saying he’d be forced to take “stronger action” if cases and hospitalizations did not improve.
On Saturday, the state recorded a grim milestone as it surpassed 2,000 COVID-19-related deaths with the addition of 29 in a single day.
Nevada is reporting 2,155 new positive tests for COVID-19 and six deaths in the past 24 hours. More than half of those cases — 1,125 — are from Clark County.
There is now a total of 133,888 confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide, with 104,624 in Clark County.
More than 1,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in Nevada in 18 of the past 19 days.
The state’s test positivity rate climbed to 16.5 percent. Nevada has continued an upward trend that has seen the rate climb sharply since the end of October.
Governor Sisolak announced Friday he tested positive for COVID-19. In a press release Monday, he gave an update, stating he’s “in good spirits.”
According to Nevada Health Response, there were 13,481 tests performed on Saturday. The state typically reports between 8,000 and 10,000 tests a day.
For the fifth week in a row, Clark County was flagged for elevated disease transmission. Clark County remains in the red on Nevada Health Response’s “county criteria tracker.” The county was flagged for elevated disease transmission after meeting the criteria of high case rates and high test positivity. Clark is one of 13 counties flagged in the tracker, updated daily on the DHHS Dashboard.
Clark County has a case rate of 1,089 per 100,000, and a test positivity of 14.5 percent.
Below is the full COVID-19 report for Saturday, Nov. 21.
NEVADA HOSPITALIZATIONS
NOTE: The state is not updating hospitalization data, including the number of patients in ICU units or on ventilators, on Sundays or holidays.
NOTE: Nevada Health Response does not update Nevada hospitalizations on Sunday. The most recent report is from Friday, Nov. 20.
Nevada is continuing to see a resurgence in COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to the Nevada Hospital Association (NHA).
According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was DOWN on Friday, according to data released Saturday.
The number of hospitalizations declined by 10, bringing the current total to 1,273. The state saw a two-day streak of records for hospitalized patients this week.
In its Nov. 19 report, the NHA noted: “Nevada’s COVID-19 hospitalizations remained flat over the past 24-hours. The northern part of the state experienced their first significant decline in weeks.
The southern area of the state experienced increases, but not of the magnitude seen in previous days.”
“It is still too early to determine with any degree of certainty but, these are encouraging signs that the public is taking “Stay at Home 2.0” seriously,” the NHA stated in Thursday’s report.
The NHA says the healthcare infrastructure remains in “fair condition.” Some individual facilities are experiencing “significant occupancy rates,” according to the NHA. The overall burden place on facilities currently is 24 percent statewide.
More data from the Nevada Hospital Association (as of Nov. 19):
- Statewide hospital occupancy rates: 82%
- ICU units occupancy rate: 68%
- Ventilators in use: 34%
The state set a new record high for hospitalized patients on Nov. 18 with 1,288 cases.
| Top 5 | Number of Hospitalizations (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 1,288 | Nov. 18 |
| 2 | 1,283 | Nov. 19 |
| 3 | 1,273 | Nov. 20 |
| 4 | 1,246 | Nov. 17 |
| 5 | 1,165 | July 31 |
ICU/VENTILATOR DATA FOR FRIDAY, NOV. 20:
There were 266 patients in intensive care units (ICU) across the state Friday, down five from the previous day.
The DHHS report showed 152 patients on ventilators, up one from the previous day.
NEVADA CASES, TESTING, DEATHS
There are now 133,888 confirmed cases and 2,017 COVID-19-related deaths in Nevada, with 2,155 new cases — the third-highest — reported in the last day.
More than 1,000 cases have been reported in Nevada in 18 of the past 19 days.
The DHHS is reporting six new COVID-19-related deaths statewide. The state is reporting a 14-day rolling average of nine deaths daily.
It is important to note there is a delay in death reporting by both the state and county.
“Please keep in mind that the death rates we are seeing correspond to cases diagnosed up to 5 weeks ago,” Nevada Health Response stated in a news release.
A recent update to the state’s COVID-19 daily death graph (Mortality Trends, page 3 of DHHS dashboard) shows Aug. 6 had the highest count of fatalities with 27, followed by 26 deaths on Aug. 5.
The highest number of fatalities recorded in a single day:
| Top 5 | Number of deaths (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 27 deaths | Aug. 6 |
| 2 | 26 deaths | Aug. 5 |
| 3 | 23 deaths | Aug. 15 |
| 4 | 22 deaths | Aug. 11 |
| 5 | 21 deaths | Aug. 9 |
The Nevada DHHS says it is important to note that there is often a delay in death reporting. Cumulative daily death counts are displayed by the date of death, rather than the date the death was reported to the state. The total count for statewide deaths on the first tab may not equal the sum of the cumulative daily death counts because of cases where exact date of death is unknown or pending report.
The state set a record for COVID-19 cases on Nov. 18 with 2,416.
Here are the largest single-day increases for COVID-19 cases in Nevada:
| Top 5 | Number of COVID-19 cases (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 2,416 | Nov. 18 |
| 2 | 2,269 | Nov. 14 |
| 3 | 2,155 | Nov. 21 |
| 4 | 2,019 | Nov. 20 |
| 5 | 1,914 | Nov. 15 |
The state’s health experts say as more COVID-19 tests are conducted, the state will see a rise in cases.
As of Saturday, a total of 1,520,545 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 13,481 in the past 24 hours. According to the state, a transition to a “testing encounters” methodology to account for people who receive both a rapid and PCR test on the same day will result in an overall decrease in the total reported number of tests by 3.8%.
With new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rising over the past several weeks, Nevada’s test positivity rate has risen above 10 percent. The test positivity is now being reported as a 14-day average, which puts it at 16.5% as of Saturday. It reached 10% on Oct. 24 but before then, Nevada had not recorded a test positivity at or above 10% since September 1.
*NOTE: Daily lab data from DHHS and SNHD reports is updated every morning for the previous day.
CLARK COUNTY CASES, TESTING, DEATHS
Of Nevada’s 2,155 new COVID-19 cases, 1,125 of them were reported in Clark County on Saturday, according to data released by the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) on Sunday.
There is now a total of 1,690 deaths, 104,624 confirmed cases and 8,080 hospitalizations, according to the Southern Nevada Health District dashboard that updates daily.
Like Nevada, Clark County is experiencing a resurgence in hospitalizations.
There were zero deaths reported in Clark County in the last day. Just a day before, the county recorded 20 deaths. In its most recent report, the health district states that 72.5 people have died for every 100,000 people in Clark County.
SNHD data shows that 8,645 positive cases were reported in the county over the past seven days.
More than a third of the cases (36.8%) reported in Clark County are among Hispanics, making it the most impacted ethnic group locally and nearly half (47.3%) of the positive cases reported in the county are in the age group of 25 to 49.
The SNHD is including the number of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in its daily report. In the last two weeks, six new cases have been added to the total of 17, including the latest case added on Nov. 20.
Since Sept. 10, eight additional cases have been reported; one on Sept. 30, one on Oct. 2, one each on Nov. 4-6, one on Nov. 10, one on Nov. 16, and another on Nov. 20, bringing the total to 17. All of these cases were reported in children under the age of 14, and all of whom tested positive for COVID-19.
MIS-C is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs.
According to the health district, MIS-C is rare and is still being studied by the CDC to learn more about it and its impact on children. While there isn’t a known cause, many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19 or close contact with someone who did.
The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Clark County continues to increase. As of Friday, the county estimates a total of 89,073 recovered cases; that’s 86.1% of all reported cases in the county, according to SNHD’s latest report.
The health district provides a daily map with the number of positive tests in each ZIP code in Clark County.
UNLV COVID-19 CASE UPDATE
UNLV has changed the way it is reporting COVID-19 cases. At the end of each week, the university will update its graph noting new cases.
According to the most recent report, 39 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last week, 34 among students and five involving staff members. A total of 431 cases, including both students and employees, have been recorded since UNLV began tracking COVID-19 data on March 25.
CLICK HERE TO SEE UNLV’S COVID-19 REPORT.
NEVADA COVID-19 MITIGATION EFFORTS
As Nevada sees an increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Sisolak is again encouraging Nevadans to do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or the state-wide situation might worsen. In a passionate plea on Tuesday, Nov. 10, the governor requested that all Nevada residents follow a “Stay at Home 2.0” order for the next two weeks.
Sisolak said the state needs the next two weeks to bring testing timelines down, catch up on contact tracing and relieve Nevada’s healthcare infrastructure.
During a press conference on Oct. 20, Gov. Sisolak said the state is starting to see a fall surge of COVID-19. He made it clear that it is not the time to let up on mask-wearing and social distancing.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Tuesday, Sept. 29, that the group gathering limit will adjust to 250 people — five times the current limit of 50 people under COVID-19 regulations.
The change took effect Thursday, Oct. 1.
This means that many events can soon return to Nevada, including live performances and church services. WATCH: Gov. Sisolak raises cap on crowds to 250, effective Thursday.
Nevada is still continuing to get a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic, and is seeing progress with the downward trend of hospitalizations and cases. In August , Gov. Sisolak announced that Nevada’s new long-term plan will be state managed, but locally executed.
Here is a quick breakdown of how it works:
- Every week, the state will update the Elevated Disease Transmission Criteria for each county. That includes testing, case rates and positivity rates.
- Counties at high risk will need to create and implement an action plan that targets sources of infection and community spread.
For more on this new approach, click HERE.
After Gov. Sisolak extended Phase 1 restrictions of bars in Clark County on July 10, the Nevada COVID-19 Mitigation & Management Task Force voted Sept. 17 to allow Clark County bars, taverns, wineries, and similar businesses to reopen. The establishments reopened on Sept. 20. Nevada COVID-19 Mitigation & Management Task Force votes to allow Clark County bars, taverns to reopen
The state transitioned into Phase 2 of reopening on Friday, May 29, after a directive in mid-March that forced all non-essential businesses to close to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
Nevada Health Response officials noted Tuesday, June 9, that Nevada’s COVID-19 data is showing an above-average daily increase in COVID-19 cases throughout the state. They are reminding Nevadans of precautionary measures that can be taken to minimize the spread of the virus such as staying at home when possible, wearing a face-covering in public, maintaining six feet of social distancing and keeping up with proper hand hygiene.
SEE ALSO: Saturday’s reports
More coverage:
Timeline, graphics
and several maps
