Douglas joins list of Nevada counties flagged for increased risk of virus

Douglas County has joined the list of, now, 10 Nevada counties flagged for increased risk of virus transmission.

Like the others, Douglas is above the permissible 200 cases per 100,000 people over the last 30 days — 294 — and the 8 percent maximum positivity. At 10.5 percent positivity, Douglas is one of seven Nevada counties in double digits.

Nevada logged 1,068 new cases since Tuesday bringing the total number to 104,093 since the pandemic began. Deaths are increasing by an average of five a day over the 14-day rolling average.

The worst positivity rate is in Lincoln County but that 20.7 percent rate is skewed by the fact the county is home to just 5,200 people, exaggerating the effect of even a couple of positive cases on the rate.

For the first time in almost two months, Carson City suffered a new death from the virus this week, bringing the capital’s total to nine. And Washoe County passed the 200 mark this week, by one death.

A total of 1,814 people have now died in Nevada from the virus.

Task Force Director Caleb Cage and Deputy Community Health Administrator Julia Peek said Nevada continues to see a resurgence of COVID-19 cases with the rate growing faster in the north than the south. They said the situation is contributing to stress on Northern Nevada’s healthcare infrastructure.

But Clark County, home to more than 72 percent of the state’s 3 million residents, is seeing cases continue to slowly increase.

They said unlike the first wave of the virus in June, hospital personal protective equipment is in much better shape with supply chains close to normal. In addition, they say hospital medical staff now has much more experience treating what was an unknown virus back then.

State officials are again encouraging Nevadans to download the smart phone COVID Trace app. The app does not collect any private information but notifies people anonymously if they have been in close contact with an infected person.

A total of 65,595 people had downloaded the app as of Tuesday night.