NEW: COVID-19 hospitalizations jump as Nevada reports 342 cases, 4 deaths

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nearly 50 new hospitalizations were reported, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients up to 322 in data released Friday.

The Nevada Hospital Association warned this week that everyone should continue wearing a mask. The state has seen stable hospitalizations before, and they were followed by new waves of COVID-19 infections.

Nevada’s four additional COVID-19-related deaths in the past day were all from Clark County, data shows. Nevada’s most populous county now accounts for 4,119 of the state’s 5,230 deaths. The 14-day rolling average is three deaths per day.

The state’s 342 new COVID-19 cases included 278 from Clark County. Nevada’s total cases are now at 304,454. Clark County has a total of 235,081. Daily case totals have dropped below 1,000 since Jan. 30.

The state’s test positivity rate is at 4.2% — unchanged from the previous four days. It fell below the 5% WHO goal on March 20 for the first time since June 19, 2020. The rate has fallen fast since Jan. 14, when it was 21.6%.

More than 19.5% of Nevadans currently eligible to receive the vaccine have been fully vaccinated, data shows. The state’s dashboard was updated Monday to include the percentage of eligible Nevadans who have been vaccinated.

Coronavirus vaccine data, updated every other weekday by the state’s health department, shows just over 15.5% of Nevada’s population is now vaccinated, a number that should grow rapidly over the next few weeks.

With 49 new patients and a total of 322, the state has more than 300 COVID-19 patients hospitalized for the first time since March 23.

There were 7,461 tests performed in the last day, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Clark County was taken off the list of flagged Nevada counties on Wednesday, March 3, after 20 consecutive weeks. The county’s case rate — 195 per 100,000 over the past 30 days — remains above state goals, but testing (223 tests per day per 100,000) and the test positivity rate (4.0%) are now within state acceptable ranges.

Clark County met all state guidelines on Thursday for the first time since Nevada established standards for reduced risk of disease transmission.

March 12 marked the first time in more than six months that no counties were flagged in the tracker, which is updated daily on the DHHS Dashboard. In today’s report, no counties were flagged.

VACCINATION UPDATE

The “vaccinations” tab on the DHHS dashboard provides updated immunization numbers every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Click HERE to see the dashboard. Be sure to click the “vaccinations” tab under the “Current Status” top tab.

The state’s health department reports 1,294,570 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nevada, as of April 1. Of Nevada’s total doses, 984,455 have been administered in Clark County, according to the Southern Nevada Health District’s daily dashboard update.

Just over 15.5% of Nevada’s population has been vaccinated so far, and more than 19% of Nevadans currently eligible have completed their vaccinations.

To find out when and where you can expect to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, click HERE.

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Below is the full COVID-19 report for Thursday, April 1.

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. 

According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was UP on Thursday, according to data released Friday.

The number of hospitalizations increased by 49, and the current total is 322 confirmed/suspected cases.

(NOTE: Daily stats from the NHA will no longer be provided after Feb. 26. Going forward, a weekly update will be provided on Wednesdays.)

More information from the Nevada Hospital Association (as of March 31):

Officials warn that stable hospital numbers could be a sign that we are just between waves.

“Nevada COVID-19 hospitalizations are beginning to stabilize which may be indicative of another plateau. The NHA defines a plateau as a period of days, between waves in the epi-curve, when the four key hospital indicators (confirmed, suspected, ventilator use, and ICU required) simultaneously remain essentially flat,” according to NHA.

“Nevada has experienced two previous plateaus that lasted between 8 and 14 days each. If we are at the beginning of a plateau, and past experience remains the same, Nevada could anticipate hospitalizations to begin rising in week 15/16 (roughly between April 5-11). Nevadans should be encouraged to maintain social distancing, wear a mask and get a vaccine. These actions will minimize any hospitalization spike.”

Emergency Department visits for COVID-19-related symptoms remained in the range of 7-9%
of all visits.

NHA also notes demographic trends in its most recent report. COVID-19 hospitalizations have involved males in 55% of cases, and females in 45%. Racial makeup of hospitalized patients has been 45.1% white, 18.8% Hispanic, 11.5% Black, 9.2% Asian, 1.7% other or unknown, and 0.8% Native American.

Patients most commonly hospitalized are in the 60-69 age group, and patients who died were most commonly 70-79 years old.

The state set a record high for hospitalized patients on Dec. 13 with 2,025 cases.

Top 5	Number of Hospitalizations (statewide)	Date reported
1	2,025	Dec. 13
2	2,008	Dec. 15
3	2,001	Dec. 22
4	1,996	Dec. 20, Dec. 21
5	1,988	Dec. 29

ICU/VENTILATOR DATA FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 1:

There are 68 patients in intensive care units (ICU) across the state, down nine from the previous day.

The DHHS report showed 39 patients on ventilators, down three from the previous day.

NEVADA CASES, TESTING, DEATHS

There are now 304,454 confirmed cases and 5,260 COVID-19-related deaths in Nevada, with 342 new cases reported in the last day.

Daily case totals have dropped below 1,000 since Jan. 30. The state set a record for COVID-19 cases on Jan. 6 with 3,402.

Here are the largest single-day increases for COVID-19 cases in Nevada:

Top 5	Number of COVID-19 cases (statewide)	Date reported
1	3,402	Jan. 6
2	3,194	Dec. 4
3	3,159	Nov. 24
4	3,063	Dec. 8
5	2,988	Dec. 22

The DHHS is reporting four new COVID-19-related deaths statewide. The 14-day rolling average of daily deaths now stands at three.

Nevada surpassed 5,000 deaths on March 3.

“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 tab of DHHS dashboard) shows the highest count of fatalities — 48 on Jan. 11, followed by 47 deaths on Dec. 22.

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 highest number of COVID-19-related deaths recorded in a single day in Nevada:

Top 5	Number of deaths (statewide)	Date reported
1	48	Jan. 11
2	47	Dec. 22
3	46	Dec. 18
4	45	Dec. 10
5	44	Jan. 6, Jan. 9

As of Wednesday, a total of 2,965,744 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 7,461 in the past 24 hours.

Nevada’s COVID-19 test positivity rate is now under 5% and in line with the World Health Organization’s goal.

The test positivity rate, reported as a 14-day average, is at 4.2% as of Thursday. The rate dropped below 5% on March 20.

The state’s test positivity rate has continued to fall since Jan. 14, revealing a good sign Nevada’s mitigation efforts are working as most of the state’s COVID-19 data, including hospitalizations and cases, continue on a downward trajectory.

The World Health Organization advises governments that before reopening, rates of positivity in testing should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.

*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 342 new COVID-19 cases, about 81% of them — 278 — were reported in Clark County on Thursday, according to data released by the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) on Friday.

There is now a total of 4,119 deaths, 235,081 confirmed cases and 14,594 hospitalizations, according to the Southern Nevada Health District dashboard that updates daily.

There were four deaths reported in Clark County in the last day. In its most recent report, the health district states that 176.8 people have died for every 100,000 people in Clark County.

SNHD data shows that 1,231 positive cases were reported in the county over the past seven days.

About a third of the cases (32.7%) reported in Clark County are among Hispanics, making it the most impacted ethnic group locally and nearly half (45.6%) 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. Eleven cases were reported in January and 12 in February. So far in March, seven new cases have been reported, with the latest on March 25, bringing the total to 61.

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.

RECOVERY CASES

The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Clark County continues to increase. The latest county update estimates a total of 225,586 recovered cases; that’s 96% 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 updates its graph noting new cases at the end of each week.

According to the most recent report, one new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last week, none among students, none involving staff, and one faculty members. A total of 761 cases, including both students and employees, have been recorded since UNLV began tracking COVID-19 data on March 25, 2020.

CLICK HERE TO SEE UNLV’S COVID-19 REPORT.

NEVADA COVID-19 MITIGATION EFFORTS

On Feb. 11, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a “safe reopening plan” that began on Monday, Feb. 15, with capacity limits being lifted to 35% or 50% for certain businesses and activities. This will be determined by risk-level.

On March 12, the governor announced that starting on March 15, the allowable capacity for large gatherings will increase. 

Under Directive 041, effective March 15, if an organizer wants to host a large gathering or event, including conferences, conventions, and trade shows, with more than 250 people, they may now have up to 50% capacity if they complete and submit a Large Gathering COVID-19 Preparedness & Safety Plan Certification Form (“Large Gathering Certification”) to the Department of Business and Industry (B&I).   

The baseline standard for gatherings and events will remain at 250 people or 50%, whichever is less, starting on March 15.

The reopening plan expands capacity to 50% on March 15 at almost all businesses and activities, and on May 1, decisions will shift from the state to local authorities:

More detail:

Nevada is currently working with the third version of the vaccine playbook, which outlines the state’s plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to its residents.

Gov. Sisolak is continuing to urge the public not to let up on mask-wearing and social distancing.

SEE ALSO: Previous day’s report