LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada’s COVID-19 test positivity rate climbed above 5% on Monday, according to data released Tuesday.
The rate has been steadily rising for the past eight days and currently stands at 5.2%, no longer meeting the CDC’s recommended rate of 5%.
The increase on April 3 was the first time in nearly three months that the test positivity rate grew, as it had been falling since Jan. 13. It fell below the 5% WHO goal on March 20, 2021 for the first time since June 19, 2020.
Most of the state’s cases 412 confirmed virus cases came from Clark County, which had 310. Nevada’s total cases are now at 308,755. Clark County has a total of 238,555.
Nevada reports seven additional COVID-19-related deaths, with six from Clark County. Nevada’s most populous county now accounts for 4,184 of the state’s 5,339 deaths. The 14-day rolling average is three deaths per day.
Coronavirus vaccine data, updated every other weekday by the state’s health department, shows nearly 20% of Nevada’s population is now vaccinated, a number that should grow rapidly over the next few weeks.
There were 6,599 tests performed in the last day, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Nevada Hospital Association’s weekly report notes that Nevada is experiencing a slight increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, “but not at a rate that is placing any significant burden on the healthcare system.”
Clark County was taken off the list of flagged Nevada counties on Wednesday, March 3, after 20 consecutive weeks. It was flagged for case rate on Tuesday, April 13 — 204 per 100,000 over the past 30 days. Testing (178 tests per day per 100,000) and the test positivity rate (5.0%) are within state acceptable ranges.
March 12 marked the first time in more than six months that no counties were flagged in the tracker. A county is flagged for elevated disease transmission if it meets two or three of the above criteria. In today’s report, Carson City and Douglas County were flagged.
VACCINATION UPDATE
The “vaccinations” tab on the DHHS dashboard provides updated immunization numbers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Click HERE to see the dashboard. Be sure to click the “vaccinations” tab under the “Current Status” top tab.
The state’s health department reports 1,548,188 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nevada, as of April 12. Of Nevada’s total doses, 1,190,320 have been administered in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District’s daily dashboard update.
Nearly 20% of Nevada’s population has been vaccinated so far, and 25% of Nevadans currently eligible have completed their vaccinations.
Nevada announced Tuesday that it will pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine until the review of it is complete. This came hours after the CDC and FDA recommended a pause on the single-dose vaccine following reports of a rare type of blood clot occurring in six women days after vaccination.
As of today, more than 47,000 doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in Clark County, according to the health district.
To find out when and where you can expect to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, click HERE.
Below is the full COVID-19 report for Monday, April 12.
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.
The state’s health department DID NOT upload data for Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. The hospitalization report below is from Thursday, April 8.
According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was DOWN on Thursday, according to data released Friday.
The number of hospitalizations decreased by 21, and the current total is 320 confirmed/suspected cases.
More information from the Nevada Hospital Association (as of April 7):
Officials warn that stable hospital numbers, which we’ve seen in recent weeks, could be a sign that we are just between waves.
“Nevada is experiencing a slight increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations but not at a rate that is placing any significant burden on the healthcare system,” according to NHA.
The NHA predicted in its report last week that hospitals could reasonably anticipate experiencing volume increases starting between April 5-11.
While this appears to be occurring, the NHA “believes the increases will be at a slower tempo and will not overpower hospital capacity based on the appreciated vaccine effectiveness and the public’s
continued willingness to receive the vaccine. In the meantime, the continued need for social
distancing and individual responsibility cannot be understated.”
Patients most commonly hospitalized are in the 60-69 age group, and patients who died were most commonly 70-79 years old.
“The 65+ year-old age groups have been eligible for vaccination for a significant period of time in Nevada,” and as a result, the NHA says the “percentages of hospitalized persons in these age groups have continued to decline this year.”
The organization believes this is evidence of vaccine effectiveness within this population. Vaccines are now open to all Nevadans ages 16 and older.
The state set a record high for hospitalized patients on Dec. 13 with 2,025 cases.
| Top 5 | Number of Hospitalizations (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 2,025 | Dec. 13 |
| 2 | 2,008 | Dec. 15 |
| 3 | 2,001 | Dec. 22 |
| 4 | 1,996 | Dec. 20, Dec. 21 |
| 5 | 1,988 | Dec. 29 |
ICU/VENTILATOR DATA FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 8
There are 66 patients in intensive care units (ICU) across the state, up two from the previous day.
The DHHS report showed 31 patients on ventilators, down one from the previous day.
NEVADA CASES, TESTING, DEATHS
There are now 308,755 confirmed cases and 5,339 COVID-19-related deaths in Nevada, with 412 new cases reported in the last day.
Daily case totals have dropped below 1,000 since Jan. 30. The state set a record for COVID-19 cases on Jan. 6 with 3,402.
Here are the largest single-day increases for COVID-19 cases in Nevada:
| Top 5 | Number of COVID-19 cases (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 3,402 | Jan. 6 |
| 2 | 3,194 | Dec. 4 |
| 3 | 3,159 | Nov. 24 |
| 4 | 3,063 | Dec. 8 |
| 5 | 2,988 | Dec. 22 |
The DHHS is reporting seven new COVID-19-related deaths statewide. The 14-day rolling average of daily deaths now stands at three.
Nevada surpassed 5,000 deaths on March 3.
“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 tab of DHHS dashboard) shows the highest count of fatalities — 48 on Jan. 11, followed by 47 deaths on Dec. 22.
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.
Here are the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths recorded in a single day in Nevada:
| Top 5 | Number of deaths (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 48 | Jan. 11 |
| 2 | 47 | Dec. 22 |
| 3 | 46 | Dec. 18 |
| 4 | 45 | Dec. 10 |
| 5 | 44 | Jan. 6, Jan. 9, Jan. 20 |
As of Monday, a total of 3,060,742 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 6,599 in the past 24 hours.
The test positivity rate, reported as a 14-day average, is at 5.2% as of Monday. The rate dropped below 5% on March 20, but began increasing steadily again on April 3 and is now above 5%.
The World Health Organization advises governments that before reopening, rates of positivity in testing should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.
*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 412 new COVID-19 cases, about 75% of them — 310 — were reported in Clark County on Monday, according to data released by the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) on Tuesday.
There is now a total of 4,184 deaths, 238,555 confirmed cases and 14,951 hospitalizations, according to the Southern Nevada Health District dashboard that updates daily.
There were six deaths reported in Clark County in the last day. In its most recent report, the health district states that 179.6 people have died for every 100,000 people in Clark County.
SNHD data shows that 2,308 positive cases were reported in the county over the past seven days.
About a third of the cases (32.9%) reported in Clark County are among Hispanics, making it the most impacted ethnic group locally and nearly half (45.7%) 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. Eleven cases were reported in January, 12 in February and seven in March. So far in April, two new cases have been reported, with the latest on April 10, bringing the total to 63.
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.
RECOVERY CASES
The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Clark County continues to increase. The latest county update estimates a total of 228,245 recovered cases; that’s 95.8% 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 updates its graph noting new cases at the end of each week.
According to the most recent report, three new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last week, two among students, none involving staff, and no faculty members. A total of 765 cases, including both students and employees, have been recorded since UNLV began tracking COVID-19 data on March 25, 2020.
CLICK HERE TO SEE UNLV’S COVID-19 REPORT.
NEVADA COVID-19 MITIGATION EFFORTS
On Feb. 11, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a “safe reopening plan” that began on Monday, Feb. 15, with capacity limits being lifted to 35% or 50% for certain businesses and activities. This will be determined by risk-level.
On March 12, the governor announced that starting on March 15, the allowable capacity for large gatherings will increase.
Under Directive 041, effective March 15, if an organizer wants to host a large gathering or event, including conferences, conventions, and trade shows, with more than 250 people, they may now have up to 50% capacity if they complete and submit a Large Gathering COVID-19 Preparedness & Safety Plan Certification Form (“Large Gathering Certification”) to the Department of Business and Industry (B&I).
The baseline standard for gatherings and events will remain at 250 people or 50%, whichever is less, starting on March 15.
The reopening plan expands capacity to 50% on March 15 at almost all businesses and activities, and on May 1, decisions will shift from the state to local authorities:
More detail:
Nevada is currently working with the third version of the vaccine playbook, which outlines the state’s plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to its residents.
Gov. Sisolak is continuing to urge the public not to let up on mask-wearing and social distancing.
SEE ALSO: Previous day’s report
