Tracking the virus

Clark County reported 679 new cases and no new deaths on Saturday

There were 679 new cases of the coronavirus and no new deaths reported in Clark County on Saturday morning, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.

The new cases pushed the county total to 17,707, with 435 fatalities.

The county also reported an additional six people had been hospitalized, lower than other daily numbers of hospitalizations reported throughout the week.

The Nevada Hospital Association said in an update posted Wednesday that “Nevada continues to experience a resurgence wave resulting in incremental increases in hospitalizations.”

An estimated 10,801 have recovered in Clark County, according to the health district.

Over the past week, multiple days have seen a dramatic increase in cases, which the county health district said was due to delays in laboratory reporting.

Data from the health district came with a disclaimer on Saturday, stating that “daily case counts reflect newly reported cases and may represent cases that were tested in the preceding days, which could significantly impact the count on days when a relatively large number of late laboratory reports arrive in one day.”

Statewide, an additional 857 cases were reported Saturday morning, along with two more deaths, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

The increases brought the total number of cases in the state to 21,575, while the number of fatalities increased to 530.

As of Saturday, 299,786 people had been tested for the virus in Nevada, representing an infection rate of 7.2.

The state infection rate is considered a better indicator of the trend of the outbreak in the state than new cases or deaths.

Saturday was the 17th day in a row the rate had increased, after it had declined for several months and reached 5.20 percent on June 17.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.