Nevada reports 25 more deaths from COVID-19

State infection rate continues to climb

Nevada recorded 672 new cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional deaths over the preceding day, according to state data posted Tuesday.

The updated numbers posted by the Department of Health and Human Services on its nvhealthresponse.nv.gov website brought the state’s total of confirmed cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus to 62,639 and raised the death toll to 1,102. (Reports from local health districts and counties place the case figure somewhat higher, at 62,756 as of Tuesday night.)

New cases reported by the state were below the daily average of more than 713 over the preceding week, while fatalities were well above the daily average of just over 16 during the period.

Hospitalizations increased by 34 over the preceding day statewide to 903, the data showed. Levels remain lower than the highs seen in late July and early August, when total daily hospitalizations ranged between 1,100 and 1,165.

The state infection or positivity rate, considered a better barometer of the trend of the outbreak than new daily case and death reports, continued to march higher, reaching 11.31 percent.

The rate, confirmed cases divided by the number of people tested, climbed during the early stages of the pandemic’s arrival in the state before peaking at 12.2 percent on April 24 and 25 and then began declining. It dropped as low as 5.20 percent on June 17 before reversing course and has been climbing ever since.

The Southern Nevada Health District reported 618 new COVID-19 cases and 24 more deaths in Clark County over the preceding day.

Data posted on the district’s coronavirus web page raised the case total for the county to 54,076 and increased the death toll to 937. The

district estimates that 46,191 of the patients who developed the disease have recovered.

New cases reported Tuesday were slightly below the daily average of just over 626 for the preceding week, while fatalities were well above the daily average of nearly 15 for the period.

The district also reported 94 hospitalizations of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients over the preceding day, well above the daily average of nearly 62 over the preceding week.

The Nevada Hospital Association reported a smaller one-day increase than the health district — 42 — but said that the jump reported by the state was “exclusively limited to Clark County.” It said that despite the oneday jump, Covid-19-related hospitalizations in the state remain on “a downward trajectory.”

Both the state and Clark County redistribute data after it is initially reported to different dates in an attempt to better reflect the course of the outbreak, so numbers published daily often don’t match with the detailed breakdowns they prepare.