Below is the full COVID-19 report for Monday, Aug. 2
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Clark County and Nevada have been labeled as places with high COVID-19 transmission for more than a month now, and continue to linger on the White House’s list of “areas of concern,” according to an updated report released today. The White House first labeled Clark County a “sustained hot spot” on July 5.
This comes after Nevada reported more than 1,200 cases in the past day and Clark County’s test positivity rate climbed to 16.1%. The state reported more than 2,500 new virus infections over the weekend, from July 30 – Aug. 1.
Almost all of Nevada is labeled as a “high transmission” area, and it is now one of 25 listed as high transmission states.
Clark County continues to fuel the higher numbers, with about 80% of Nevada’s COVID-19 cases recorded on Monday.
Twelve of Nevada’s 17 counties are now flagged for substantial or high transmission, sparking the Nevada Health Response to remind residents on Tuesday to wear masks in public indoor settings, even if fully vaccinated.
“The CDC recommended that everyone, including fully vaccinated individuals, wear a mask in public indoor settings in counties with substantial or high transmission. In line with Emergency Directive 045 (signed and effective May 3, 2021), the State of Nevada is automatically adopting the latest CDC guidance related to masks as a statewide requirement,” the state noted in a news release.
While hospitalizations continue to increase daily, the health care system remains in good condition, the Nevada Hospital Association (NHA) stated in its most recent report.
“Hospitals report that 95%+/- of all patients hospitalized are unvaccinated. Hence, robust vaccination campaigns remain the best mitigation strategy,” NHA said.
A BREAKDOWN OF CASES & DEATHS & TESTING
Nevada’s case count grew by 1,215 in the past day, most from Clark County (964). The state’s total cases are now at 360,147. Clark County has a total of 283,321. It’s important to note that the state no longer updates the dashboard on the weekend or holidays, which may be why Monday and Tuesday reports show higher case and death totals.
Nevada’s test positivity rate is at 15.1%, up from 14.9%. It fell below 5.0%, the World Health Organization’s goal, on May 17 and climbed above it on June 28. Clark County’s rate is even higher, at 16.1%, up from 16% the previous day.
Nevada reported 11 COVID-19-related deaths in the past day, 10 from Clark County. Southern Nevada now accounts for 4,721 of the state’s 5,929 deaths. The 14-day rolling average is six deaths per day.
As of Monday, a total of 3,752,650 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 8,460 in the past day.
*NOTE: Daily lab data from DHHS and SNHD reports is updated every morning for the previous day.
TRACKING NV COUNTIES
July 6 was the first time since March 3 that Clark County had been flagged for elevated disease transmission (A county is flagged for elevated disease transmission if it meets two or three of the above criteria). In today’s report, Clark remains flagged, along with Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye and Washoe counties.
Clark County’s case rate (900 per 100,000 over the past 30 days) and test positivity rate (16.1%) are flagged in data reported today. Testing (262 tests per day per 100,000) is within the state’s acceptable range.
VACCINATION UPDATE
The state’s health department reports 2,713,861 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nevada, as of Aug. 2. Of Nevada’s total doses, 2,167,630 have been administered in the southern part of the state, according to the Health District’s daily dashboard update.
As of today, nearly 48% of Nevadans currently eligible for the vaccine are fully vaccinated, and about 58% of the eligible population has initiated vaccinations. Clark County reports that nearly 47% of its eligible residents are fully vaccinated.
A BREAKDOWN OF NEVADA HOSPITALIZATIONS
NOTE: The state is not updating hospitalization data on weekends or holidays.
According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was DOWN in the past day.
The current number of hospitalizations is 1,215 confirmed/suspected cases. Hospitals reported 254 of those patients were in intensive care units, and 153 were on ventilators.
The healthcare system is considered good at this time, according to the most recent report from the Nevada Hospital Association (NHA).
But NHA advises that the growing number of COVID-19 patients is a concern.
“Clinical and nursing staff shortages during this surge are an anticipated concern. There are no hospitals reporting shortages or anticipating shortages of medical supplies, PPE, ventilators, or medications at this time,” NHA said.
“Hospitals report that 95%+/- of all patients hospitalized are unvaccinated. Hence, robust vaccination campaigns remain the best mitigation strategy.”
“Based on the current southern hospitalization trendline, tier one acute care facilities can reasonably anticipate 1,400 hospitalized COVID patients by the second week of August,” NHA reports.
To give some perspective, the state set a record high for hospitalized patients on Dec. 13 with 2,025 cases.
RECOVERY CASES IN SOUTHERN NEVADA
The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Southern Nevada continues to increase. The latest county update estimates a total of 264,779 recovered cases; that’s 93.5% 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.
MITIGATION MEASURES IN NEVADA
Nevada reopened to 100% capacity on June 1 and social distancing guidelines lifted, helping the state return to mostly pre-pandemic times, with some exceptions.
The CDC reversed course on July 27, saying fully vaccinated Americans in areas with “substantial and high” transmission should wear masks indoors when in public as COVID-19 cases rise. Most of Nevada falls into those two risk categories.
Nevada said it would adopt the CDC’s guidance with a new mask guideline that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 30. This overrides Clark County’s employee mask mandate, which went into effect in mid-July.
Masks still must be worn when required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local businesses and workplace guidance.
SEE ALSO: Previous day’s report