Surging COVID-19 cases puts Clark County’s total at 4,999 to date

Surging COVID-19 cases in Clark County blew past previous records this weekend, adding 198 new cases over three days to push the county’s total to 4,999 to date.

No new deaths were reported since Friday. The death toll from COVID-19 in Clark County remained at 70, according to Clark County Public Health. Four people died from COVID-19 last week.

The 198 new cases represents a 26 percent increase over the previous record three-day total, which was reached last week. It works out to an average of 66 new cases per day, according to Public Health data.

The number of new COVID-19 cases has been ratcheting upward since late summer, from an average of about 21 cases per day in late August to about 31 cases per day in late September, about 45 cases per day in mid-October and about 55 cases per day last week, according to Public Health data.

Hospitalizations also surged this weekend. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 rose to 33 on Monday, and the number of people hospitalized awaiting test results rose to 13. Together, those cases accounted for 7.3 percent of all licensed hospital beds in the county, according to Public Health.

The number of active cases fell slightly to 266, in a statistic that measures people with COVID-19 who are still in their isolation period, according to Public Health.