For the first time since June 19, Nevada reported on Saturday that it is lower than the 5 percent positivity rate that the World Health Organization says governments must pass for 14 consecutive days before starting again.
The two-week positivity rate, which essentially follows the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are confirmed to be infected, decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 4.9 percent. The rate was already higher than 21 percent in January.
Brian Labus, an epidemiologist of infectious diseases and assistant professor at UNLV, said the declining positivity rate is a major milestone, but not the end of the pandemic. He recommended that people still be vaccinated, as the eligibility is for all Nevadans older than 16 years in early April.
“I’m more concerned about the larger Las Vegas community than about the Strip in terms of the risks of reopening,” Labus said. ‘It is important that people continue to wear masks and social distance while we work to slow the spread of this disease. People need to keep thinking every day about how to keep themselves and others safe. ”
The state reported 271 new cases of coronavirus and ten additional deaths, with both statistics for the third day in a row above recent averages.
Updated figures posted on the coronavirus website of the Department of Health and Human Services brought the total numbers in the state to 300,951 cases and 5,171 deaths.
The new cases in Nevada were well above the 14-day moving average of the daily reported cases of 206. The deaths were also well above the two-week moving average of five per day, state data showed.
Despite recent above-average daily reports, all major statistics have been lower in the state since mid-January or earlier, health officials said.
State and county health institutions regularly redistribute data after it has been reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, therefore the moving average trend lines often differ from the daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak.
As of Thursday, the data also showed that 309 people in Nevada were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. According to state data, the figure peaked at 2126 on December 22nd.
There were 213 new cases and five deaths were reported Saturday in Clark County. The cumulative totals for the country rose to 232,595 cases and 4,048 deaths.
In an earlier version of this story, it was incorrectly reported that Nevada’s test positivity dropped below 5 percent for the first time on Saturday. It also incorrectly attributed data from state hospitals from Thursday to Saturday.
Contact Alexis Ford at [email protected] or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.