Las Vegas Sun

May 18, 2024

Nevada has 15th death from coronavirus; 1st in Washoe County

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Steve Marcus

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak responds to a question during a news conference at the Sawyer State Building in Las Vegas,Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Sisolak ordered a monthlong closure of casinos and other non-essential businesses in order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

Nevada has reported its 15th death from the coronavirus virus, authorities said Sunday.

The Washoe County man in his 40s is the first COVID-19 patient to die in northern Nevada.

The previous 14 deaths all were in Clark County, which is the state's most populous and includes the Las Vegas metro area.

It’s unclear if the Washoe County man had an underlying health condition.

As of Sunday, health officials said 738 people in Nevada have tested positive for the coronavirus including 528 in Clark County and 107 in Washoe.

More than half of the positive cases were in men. The age most impacted in Nevada was people between 30 and 39, accounting for 19% of the total cases.

As of Saturday night, about 11,000 tests had been performed.

Authorities say an 86-year-old man who was a resident of the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home in Boulder City died of COVID-19 complications.

They say the man died Saturday after being admitted to the hospital. At the time, he wasn't suspected as a coronavirus case, but later tested positive.

Nevada Department of Veterans Services Director Katherine Miller said the man was a Navy Korean War veteran. His name wasn’t being released.

Four more deaths were reported Saturday in Clark County due to coronavirus, according to the Southern Nevada Health District’s website.

Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said his department learned Saturday that a detention facility deputy has tested positive for COVID-19.

The deputy returned to work Thursday after being off for a week, reported experiencing a symptom of the virus and was sent to an independent lab for testing and then home.