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Nevada on Wednesday reported a higher than average number of new coronavirus cases and deaths during the previous day, but the state’s positivity rate continued its recent decline to 8.6% – a level never before seen since the end of October.
Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services published on the state’s coronavirus website showed 516 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 additional deaths in the previous day. That brought the cumulative totals for Nevada to 292,059 cases and 4,919 deaths.
New cases were well above the 14-day moving average of 335 per day, while deaths were almost 50% higher than the daily moving average of 11 over the period.
But Caleb Cage, the state’s COVID-19 response director, noted that new cases have declined sharply in recent times, dropping 55% in the past two weeks.
Nevada’s average daily cases are now less than half of the levels of last year’s summer surge and the state now has the fourth lowest number of cases (average daily case over the past seven days per 100,000 population) among the 50 states, he said.
Deaths from COVID-19 have also declined, but are only now descending below the peak of the summer surge, Cage noted.
The state’s positivity rate, meanwhile, fell 0.3 percentage points from the previous day in Wednesday’s update, and has now fallen 13 percentage points from the high of 21. , 6% recorded on January 13. The rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID -19 who are determined to be infected, was last this low on October 21, when it stood at 8.5%.
Hospitalizations of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients also continued to decline, with 534 beds occupied, down 47 from the previous day, according to state data.
State and county health agencies often redistribute data after it has been reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, which is why moving average trend lines may differ from reports. daily and are considered to be better indicators of the direction of the epidemic.
Clark County, meanwhile, recorded 357 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 additional deaths in the previous day, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
That brought the cumulative totals for the county to 225,301 cases and 3,827 deaths.
The county’s 14-day test positivity rate was 9.7%, 1.1% higher than the state average.
Contact Mike Brunker at [email protected] or 702-383-4656. To follow @mike_brunker on Twitter.
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