CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada health officials reported 489 new coronavirus cases and 12 new deaths on Friday, bringing the statewide totals to 70,712 confirmed cases and 1,375 deaths a day before the six-month anniversary of its first reported case.
Officials reported a cumulative test positivity rate of 10.5% since the start of the pandemic. Nevada is one of the 11 states with a positivity rate higher than 10%, which is more than double the World Health Organization’s 5% recommendation for reopening.
The vast majority of cases (86%) and deaths (87%) have occurred in the Las Vegas-area Clark County, which is both the state’s most populous and racially diverse.
Since the start of the pandemic, 43% of the people who have tested positive have been Latinos, although only 29% of the state population is Latino, census data show.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms for up to three weeks. Older adults and people with existing health problems can face severe illness and death. However, the vast majority of people recover.
In the Las Vegas area, federal officials are concluding the first week of a “surge testing” program scheduled to last through Sept. 18. Three “Stop, Swab & Go” sites at the Fiesta hotel-casino in Henderson, Texas Station hotel-casino in North Las Vegas, and Sam Boyd Stadium in southeast Las Vegas have been open since Monday.
Casinos remain subject to capacity limits and bars remain closed in Las Vegas and Reno. At a Thursday task force meeting, Nevada COVID-19 response director Caleb Cage acknowledged the state’s reliance on tourists to sustain its economy, but said restrictions would remain in place until the state made additional progress reining in the spread of the virus.
Other states, Cage said, “are watching the outbreak in Nevada to determine whether it’s going to impact our economy by allowing visitors here or not.”
“We have an economy that is based on visitors. The reality is that visitors will not come here if we are seen as a hotspot nationally,” he said.
___
Sam Metz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.