John Locher/AP
A healthcare worker directs patients in their cars at a drive-thru coronavirus testing site run by the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Medicine and the Nevada National Guard, Friday, July 10, 2020, in Las Vegas.
Published Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 | 3:41 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 | 7:19 p.m.
Nevada logged a record 3,159 new cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, meaning 10% of the state’s total 142,239 cases have occurred in the past seven days, according to data from the Nevada Health Response.
The numbers are downright frightening when examining the surge, which has seen a resident die every two hours with COVID-19.
That’s why Gov. Steve Sisolak and health experts are limiting the size of private gatherings to no more than 10 — a significant blow because of Thanksgiving, but worth the sacrifice to slow the spread, the governor said.
“What we do over this holiday will help determine the COVID burden in the weeks to come,” Sisolak posted Wednesday on Twitter.
He asked that residents consider the following: Someone is tested on average every eight seconds for the virus. At least one person per minute is positive.
In an event with 15 people attending, the state figures suggest there’s a 36% chance that at least one participant is COVID-19 positive. That rate increases to 53% for groups of 25 people and 75% for groups of 50 — the capacity for public gatherings as of Tuesday. Also, restaurants and bars had their capacity reduced from 50% to 25%, among other restrictions.
“I said from the start of this pandemic, I’d always be honest with Nevadans about the reality of our COVID situation, and right now our situation is dangerous,” Sisolak tweeted. “It requires us to act with vigilance immediately to protect our state.”
There are 1,414 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Nevada, including seven children — four in the Reno area, three in Clark County, according to the state. Of all visits to emergency rooms, 15-20% are because of coronavirus symptoms. And hospital capacity is the worst it's been in the nine months of the pandemic.
COVID-19 hospital admissions have slowed in the northern part of the state, but coronavirus patient counts have continued to climb and overall capacity remains stubbornly high to the south. According to the Nevada Hospital Association, Clark County hospitals were 88% full with patients of all types as of Tuesday; they have toggled between 82% and 88% for the last week. Intensive care beds were 71% full with patients of all types Tuesday.
Statewide, confirmed and suspected coronavirus patients make up 26% of all patients and 44% of those in intensive care. Clark County’s proportions roughly mirror those.
By raw numbers, 1,063 people are being treated in Las Vegas-area hospitals for COVID-19; they are the majority of the 1,414 patients statewide. A week prior, Southern Nevada hospitals had 881 COVID-19 patients, putting the seven-day increase at more than 20%.
To put the current statewide numbers in perspective, the hospital association said to imagine nine “Southwest 737-700s completely full.”
Sun reporter Hillary Davis contributed to this report.
