LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada is reporting nearly 900 new COVID-19 cases and a 14-day test positivity rate of 10% in the past 24-hour period. Sept. 1 was the last time the state’s positivity rate was at or above 10 percent.
Data released Sunday notes 891 new COVID-19 cases in Nevada and 735 in Clark County. There is now a total of 95,703 confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide with 78,897 in Clark County.
Nevada is reporting five new COVID-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, one of which is from Clark County. Of Nevada’s 1,748 deaths, 1,492 are in Clark County.
According to Nevada Health Response, 8,635 COVID-19 tests were conducted in Nevada on Saturday. The state typically reports between 8,000 and 10,000 tests a day.
In a tweet Saturday, Governor Sisolak urged Nevadans to “double down on our COVID-19 mitigation measures” after noticing the rise in cases and test positivity rate.
This week, Clark County was flagged again for elevated disease transmission after meeting the criteria of high case rates and high test positivity. Clark is one of eight counties flagged in the Nevada Health Response’s report.
Clark County has a case rate of 475 per 100,000 and a test positivity of 9.3 percent.
Below is the full COVID-19 report for Saturday, Oct. 24.
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 did not update Nevada hospitalizations on Saturday. The most recent report is from Thursday, Oct. 22.
According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was down for the second day in a row on Thursday, according to data released Friday.
Nevada reported 493 confirmed/suspected cases on Thursday, down 27 from the previous day.
The state is seeing an increase in confirmed COVID-19 case hospitalizations, according to the latest report by the Nevada Hospital Association (NHA). The NHA referred to the recent increase as “an indication of serious disease” in its Oct. 12 report.
The organization says the increase in hospitalized patients is too early to define, but notes this could signal “the beginning of a fall resurgence” or the public’s lack of concern with COVID-19 guidelines.
The state set a record for hospitalized patients on July 31 with 1,165 cases.
The highest numbers of hospitalizations have all been reported since July 23.
| Top 5 | Number of Hospitalizations (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 1,165 | July 31 |
| 2 | 1,160 | July 23 |
| 3 | 1,159 | July 30 |
| 4 | 1,152 | August 2 |
| 5 | 1,148 | August 4 |
ICU/VENTILATOR DATA FOR THURSDAY, OCT. 22:
There were 134 patients in intensive care units (ICU) across the state Thursday, down 27 from the previous day.
The DHHS report showed 51 patients on ventilators, down two from the previous day.
More data from the Nevada Hospital Association (as of Oct. 22):
- Statewide hospital occupancy rates: 75%
- ICU units occupancy rate: 63%
- Ventilators in use: 25%
NEVADA CASES, TESTING, DEATHS
There are now 95,703 confirmed cases and 1,748 COVID-19-related deaths in Nevada, with 891 new cases reported in the last day.
The DHHS is reporting five new COVID-19-related deaths statewide in the past 24 hours, and a 14-day rolling average of four 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. 5 and Aug. 6 had the highest count of fatalities, tied with 26, followed by 23 deaths on Aug. 15.
The highest number of fatalities recorded in a single-day:
| Top 5 | Number of deaths (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 26 deaths | Aug. 5, Aug. 6 |
| 2 | 23 deaths | Aug. 15 |
| 3 | 22 deaths | Aug. 11 |
| 4 | 21 deaths | Aug. 9 |
| 5 | 20 deaths | July 29 |
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 largest single-day increases for COVID-19 cases in Nevada:
| Top 5 | Number of COVID-19 cases (statewide) | Date reported |
| 1 | 1,447 | July 15 |
| 2 | 1,380 | July 16 |
| 3 | 1,288 | July 18 |
| 4 | 1,264 | July 30 |
| 5 | 1,262 | July 22 |
The state’s health experts say as more testing sites open and more COVID-19 tests are conducted, the state will see a rise in cases.
As of Saturday, a total of 1,204,746 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 8,635 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 trickled back up to 10 percent.
The test positivity rate is now being reported as a 14-day average, which puts it at 10.0% as of Saturday. The last time the state’s positivity rate was at or above 10% was on Sept. 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 891 new COVID-19 cases, 735 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 1,492 deaths, 78,897 confirmed cases and 7,134 hospitalizations, according to the Southern Nevada Health District dashboard that updates daily.
There was one new death reported in Clark County in the last day. In its most recent report, the health district states that 64.0 people have died for every 100,000 people in Clark County.
SNHD data shows that 3,492 positive cases were reported in the county over the past seven days.
More than a third of the cases (39.0%) reported in Clark County are among Hispanics, making it the most impacted ethnic group locally and nearly half (47.6%) 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. Since Sept. 10, two additional cases have been reported; one on Sept. 30, and one on Oct. 2, bringing the total to 11. There was an additional case reported on Oct. 16, bringing the total to 12 cases, but the county went back to reporting 11 cases on Saturday, Oct. 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 70,614 recovered cases; that’s 90.3% 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 cases. At the end of each week, the university will update its graph noting new cases.
According to the most recent report, 30 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last week. Twenty-nine cases are students, and one is a staff member. A total of 273 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 encouraging Nevadans to do their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or the state-wide situation might worsen.
During a press conference on Oct. 20, Gov. Sisolak said the state is starting to see a fall surge of COVID-19. He is making it clear that now is not the time to let up on mask-wearing and social distancing.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Tuesday, Sept. 29, that he is adjusting the group gathering limit 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
