Clark County reports 15 new COVID-19 deaths as case rate continues to fallFree

Clark County reported 678 new COVID-19 cases and 15 new deaths Thursday as disease activity continues to slowly decline.

The fatalities include three men in their 50s, three men and two women in their 60s, two men and two women in their 70s and one man and two women age 80 or older, putting the total number of deaths in Clark County at 526 since the pandemic began. Deaths are added to the county’s total 10 to 12 days after they occur.

The deaths came as the COVID-19 activity rate fell to 305.7 per 100,000 population over two weeks, down from 350.6 last week and a peak of 549.3 as of Sept. 9, according to Public Health.

The new cases reported Thursday include 593 that were confirmed using PCR testing, for a total of 39,474 cases to date, and 85 probable cases diagnosed using antigen testing, for a total of 4,476, according to Public Health data. Combined, the new cases worked out to about 97 new cases a day, down from about 121 new cases a day last week and 140 cases the week before.

There were 796 active cases still in isolation as of Thursday, down from 934 last week and 1,050 the week before, according to Public Health.

Hospitalizations were up slightly, with 11.8 new hospital admissions per 100,000 population over seven days, up from 11.2 per 100,000 last week, Public Health data showed.

Clark County’s hospitals reported that 95.1 percent of hospital beds and 87.5 percent of ICU beds were occupied as of Tuesday, with 12.5 percent of hospital beds and 17.2 percent of ICU beds occupied by people with or suspected of having COVID-19, according to the agency.