LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have been increasing in August, mirroring a national trend as variants known as “Eris” and “Arcturus” spread.
The Nevada Hospital Association (NHA) released a graphic on Wednesday showing the upward trend, with more than 100 people with COVID-19 symptoms hospitalized since Aug. 16.
“COVID-19 hospitalizations have steadily increased during the month of August in Nevada. However, even with these increases, hospitals are not under stress and the hospital sector remains in a healthy status,” according to NHA.
The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services stopped updating counts of hospital patients in mid-June as the pandemic became less of a public concern. At the time, there were 77 COVID-19 patients statewide.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that hospitalizations increased 21.6% during the week of Aug. 6-12. That was the week preceding the increase shown in the NHA graphic.
The increase in hospitalizations doesn’t suggest there’s a wave of cases on the horizon, but people with other risk factors should take precautions.
The new EG.5 variant — nicknamed “Eris” — is present in Clark County, appearing at the top of the list of variants released last week by the Southern Nevada Health District. Eris is associated with 41.8% of cases sequenced in the county, followed by XBB.1.16 (“Arcturus”) and XBB.1.5 (“Kraken”).
8 News Now no longer writes weekly updates on COVID-19 levels. Our last report appeared on March 16. At the time, there were 154 patients in hospitals statewide. A report from mid-May marked the end of the public health emergency. Nevada reported deaths that week at 12,008.
Since May 11, another 101 deaths have been recorded. The average of new COVID-19 cases was 66, and now stands at 104 after climbing steadily since late June.
