All major COVID-19 metrics for Nevada trend lower over weekend

Nevada on Monday reported 542 new coronavirus cases and three deaths over the preceding three days.

The state Department of Health and Human Services posted the updated data covering Friday through Sunday on the state’s coronavirus website. It was the fifth report since the state stopped reporting COVID-19 metrics over the weekend.

Public health officials have said the reports on Monday and possibly Tuesday will typically be inflated as a result of the delayed reporting.

New cases continued to trend lower, with the two-week moving average of daily cases declining from 206 on Friday to 193 in Monday’s report.

The new report pushed the state’s case total to 321,081.

Deaths from COVID-19, however, were below the two-week moving average when spread over three days. The latest fatalities brought the state’s death toll to 5,533. The two-week moving average for daily fatalities dropped from three to two over the same period.

The state’s two-week positivity rate, which essentially tracks the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who are found to be infected, dropped 0.3 percentage point to 5.0 percent, according to state data. It’s the first time the rate has been as low as 5.0 percent — the target set by the World Health Organization to prevent the spread of the disease — since April 11.

The rate has been inching lower since its most recent crest to 5.9 percent on April 17, the data show.

The data also showed 276 people with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized in the state, a decrease of 60 from the last state report on Friday.

Clark County increased to 80 percent capacity limit on May 1 and changed the social distancing protocols from 6 feet to 3 feet. State officials have said they expect to see cases increase after restrictions are relaxed, though the state’s key metrics for the disease have trended lower since the move.

State and county health agencies often redistribute the daily data after it is reported to better reflect the date of death or onset of symptoms, which is why the moving-average trend lines frequently differ from daily reports and are considered better indicators of the direction of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, the Southern Nevada Health District reported 457 new cases in Clark County for Friday through Sunday, bringing the local cumulative case total to 248,793. It also reported two deaths, bringing the number of deaths in the county to 4,360.

The county’s 14-day positivity rate fell to 5.1 percent.

County numbers are reflected in the statewide totals.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.