Below is the full COVID-19 report for Oct. 4
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada’s test positivity rate continues to trend in the right direction, dropping to 8.6% in data released today.
That’s down from 8.8% yesterday, and follows improvements in Clark County, where test positivity fell from 6.9% to 6.7%.
Nevada reports only 126 new COVID-19 cases, and 458 cases were reported in Clark County. While no explanation was given, the state’s number is probably off. It’s possible that cases that should have been in today’s count were left out or included yesterday, when the state was making adjustments to its dashboard. Yesterday, the state began reporting antigen tests — “rapid” tests or “point-of-care tests” — that had previously not been included in the state’s count.
The state reports 33 deaths, with 24 in Clark County.
Hospitalizations statewide dropped slightly, falling to 841, with 196 patients in intensive care and 121 patients on ventilators.
Nevada continues to be labeled a place with high COVID-19 transmission and Clark County remains “an area of concern,” according to an updated White House report. The county was first labeled a “sustained hot spot” on July 5.
Almost all of Nevada is labeled as a “high transmission” area. The CDC is using cases per 100,000 over the past seven days to determine high transmission.
There are 135.1 new cases reported per 100,000 every seven days in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
A BREAKDOWN OF CASES, DEATHS AND TESTING
Nevada’s case count grew by 126 in the past day, 458 in Clark County. No explanation was provided, but it’s possible the state’s count will be adjusted. The state’s total cases are now at 424,326. Clark County has a total of 322,524. It’s important to note that the state no longer updates the dashboard on the weekend or holidays, which may be why Monday and Tuesday reports show higher case and death totals.
Nevada’s test positivity rate is at 8.6%, down from 8.8% the previous day. It fell below 5.0%, the World Health Organization’s goal, on May 17 and climbed above it on June 28. Clark County’s rate has fallen to 6.7%, down from 6.9% the previous day.
Of the 33 additional COVID-19-related deaths, 24 were from Clark County. Southern Nevada now accounts for 5,701 of the state’s 7,221 deaths. The 14-day rolling average is 11 deaths per day.
As of Sept. 30, the health district reports there are 158 breakthrough deaths, 482 breakthrough hospitalizations and 10,449 breakthrough cases.
As of yesterday, a total of 4,969,312 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 6,871 since yesterday.
*NOTE: Daily lab data from DHHS and SNHD reports is updated every morning for the previous day.
TRACKING NV COUNTIES
The test positivity rate in Clark County has dropped below 8%, which takes the county off the state’s watch list for elevated transmission risk. If the county can sustain levels for test positivity and testing, state restrictions — including mask requirements — could be relaxed. A separate measure of the county’s case rate — currently 135.1 cases per 100,000 population over the past seven days — needs to drop below 50 for two straight weeks before the mask mandate can end.
July 6 was the first time since March 3 that Clark County had been flagged for elevated disease transmission (A county is flagged for elevated disease transmission if it meets two or three of the above criteria). In today’s report, Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye, Storey and Washoe counties are flagged.
Clark County’s case rate (576 per 100,000 over the past 30 days) is flagged in data reported today. Test positivity rate (6.7%) and testing (378 tests per day per 100,000) are within the state’s acceptable range.
VACCINATION UPDATE
The state’s health department reports 3,130,782 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nevada, as of Oct. 4.
As of today, more than 54% of Nevadans currently eligible for the vaccine are fully vaccinated, and 62% of the eligible population has initiated vaccinations. Clark County reports that 53% of its eligible residents are fully vaccinated. These numbers were affected by a change in the state’s dashboard today.
A BREAKDOWN OF NEVADA HOSPITALIZATIONS
NOTE: The state is not updating hospitalization data on weekends or holidays.
According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was DOWN (-12) since yesterday.
The current number of hospitalizations is 849 confirmed/suspected cases. Hospitals reported 196 of those patients were in intensive care units, and 121 were on ventilators. To give some perspective, the state set a record high for hospitalized patients on Dec. 13 with 2,025 cases.
In the Nevada Hospitalization’s most recent report, a staffing alert remains statewide, placing limits on patient transfers and the ability to admit patients.
“Clark County and Northern Nevada are seeing fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations indicating that the state has peaked and has crested the current wave of illness. Rural Nevada continues to be hard hit, with most staffed rural ICU beds at 100% occupancy,” according to NHA’s report.
With rural hospitals near 100% occupancy, patients are being sent to Clark County.
“Clark County facilities also report accepting transfers from other states (Arizona, California, Idaho, Texas and Utah) as all hospitals continue experiencing staffing challenges,” NHA said.
RECOVERY CASES IN SOUTHERN NEVADA
The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Southern Nevada continues to increase. The latest county update estimates a total of 306,479 recovered cases; that’s 95% 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.
MITIGATION MEASURES IN NEVADA
Nevada reopened to 100% capacity on June 1 and social distancing guidelines lifted, helping the state return to mostly pre-pandemic times, with some exceptions.
The CDC reversed course on July 27, saying fully vaccinated Americans in areas with “substantial and high” transmission should wear masks indoors when in public as COVID-19 cases rise. Most of Nevada falls into those two risk categories.
Nevada said it would adopt the CDC’s guidance with the new mask guideline that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 30. This overrides Clark County’s employee mask mandate, which went into effect in mid-July.
On Aug. 16, Gov. Sisolak signed a new directive that allows fully vaccinated attendees at large gatherings to remove their masks, but only if the venue chooses to require everyone in attendance to provide proof of vaccination. Those who have just one shot and are not “fully vaccinated” would still be allowed to attend, as would children under 12, but both would need to wear masks.
Masks still must be worn when required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local businesses and workplace guidance.
SEE ALSO: Previous day’s report
