The full COVID-19 report for June 14-20 appears below.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — New COVID-19 cases are dropping in Clark County, breaking the trend seen the past two years when cases have risen in the second half of June.
The 14-day moving average of new cases in the county shows a 12.5% drop since the previous week — 637 new cases per day, compared to 728 the week before. The number tells the average number of cases per 100,000 population.
A look at the actual case numbers reported in the county shows an even steeper drop — 24% — with 4,927 cases reported, compared to 6,513 the previous week.
Any way you look at it, the cases are dropping, and that’s only one of the good signs in the data released on Wednesday.
Hospitalizations have also dropped after rising for seven weeks straight. Clark County had 338 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, including 53 in intensive care and 22 on ventilators. Numbers expected on Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will determine whether the county remains at a “high” or “medium” community level. Rising numbers of hospitalizations had pushed Clark County to “high” for the past two weeks.
Statewide, the 14-day moving average of new cases was at 834 — down 11.5% from last week. And hospitalizations dropped statewide, too — down eight patients to 402.
Nevada reported 39 deaths, pushing the total for the pandemic to past a new milestone at 11,006.
“Nevada has been showing signs of slowing COVID-19 hospitalizations during the past week,” according to a weekly update from the Nevada Hospital Association. “Hospitals remain well-positioned to handle the current caseloads. The healthcare labor market remains tight; however, a heavy reliance on traveling nurses is not required. Supply chains seem to be improving.”
Wastewater surveillance showed improvements, with only small increases at two monitoring stations in the Las Vegas valley. Boulder City showed a small increase in COVID-19 genetic material. The wastewater data helps health officials see COVID-19 levels increasing before people even feel sick.
A report on the variants present in Southern Nevada shows the omicron “stealth” variant (BA.2) is the dominant variant at 58.4% of the cases, with a slight increase in the strain that had been growing (BA.2.12.1) accounting for 36.5% of cases analyzed by SNHD. The BA.2.12.1 variant has been growing nationwide, but increased only slightly in Southern Nevada over the past week. The original omicron variant didn’t show up this week.
Three other strains made their first appearance in Clark County’s analysis: omicron (BA.3), omicron (BA.4) and omicron (BA.5). Variants BA.4 and BA.5 were first seen in South Africa.
A look at vaccinations shows that 57.57% of all eligible Nevadans are now fully vaccinated. Statistics show that 68.54% of the population has initiated vaccination. Approval for a second booster dose has been approved for people 50 and older, and people age 12 and older who are immunocompromised. And just today, SNHD began offering vaccinations for children ages 6 months to 5 years old.
COVID-19 vaccines, available for free, greatly reduce the chance of severe illness or death.
CLARK COUNTY
- New daily confirmed cases (14-day moving average) 637 — down from 728 last week
- Total cases: 532,724*
- Deaths: 31 since last week (total: 8,605)
- Hospitalizations: 338 (down 13 since last week)
*-A difference in case counts exists between SNHD and the state. SNHD has reported for several weeks that it is working to address the difference. By SNHD’s current count, Clark County has had 545,577 cases as of this week.
NEVADA
- New daily confirmed cases (14-day moving average) 834 — down 109 from last week
- Total cases: 705,394
- Deaths: 39 (total: 11,006)
- Hospitalizations: 402 (down 8 since last week)
The state and county are now providing weekly updates on COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations. Data released today includes information collected from Tuesday, June 14, through Monday, June 20.
See last week’s report here.
