Nevada reports 2,878 COVID cases, 35 more deaths

Nevada reported rebounds in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths on Friday, but hospitalizations of suspected and confirmed cases crept slightly lower.

The 2,878 additional cases reported Friday was the second-highest daily increase of the week, surpassed only by the 2,882 cases reported on Sunday, according to data posted online by the state department of health and Human Services. The seven-day moving average of daily reported cases rose for the second day in a row, reaching 2,564.

The state reported 35 additional deaths from the disease caused by the new coronavirus, slightly above the seven-day moving average of 33.

The figures brought totals in Nevada to 199,257 cases and 2,708 deaths.

The state’s two-week positivity rate decreased for the ninth day in a row, to 20.4 percent, a 0.2 percentage point drop from the previous day.

Officials on Thursday warned that while the positivity rate’s decline was the longest since September, it’s too soon to label it a trend. Disease indicators are likely to rise again after the holidays, said Caleb Cage, the state’s COVID-19 response director.

“While we are experiencing something that looks like stabilization or potential towards a stabilization trend … we’re still highly elevated and we could very easily start trending back upward here in the near term as well,” Cage said at the weekly COVID-19 Task Force meeting in Carson City.

The number of patients in Nevada hospitalized with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases also decreased for the second day in a row, dropping by 24 from the previous day to 1,951. Hospitalizations in Southern Nevada decreased by 10, to 1,519, state data shows.

According to the Nevada Hospital Association, 85 percent of licensed hospital beds and 76 percent of intensive care beds in the state were occupied. Southern Nevada had 91 percent of its licensed beds occupied, along with 79 percent of ICU beds, the association said.

2,878

New cases of COVID-19 reported Friday in Nevada, bringing the state total to 199,257

35

Deaths from COVID-19 reported Friday in Nevada, bringing the state total to 2,708

2,056

New cases of COVID-19 reported Friday in Clark County, bringing the county total to 150,467

24

Deaths from COVID-19 reported Friday in Clark County, bringing the county total to 2,118