Below is the full COVID-19 report for Nov. 24-28.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A welcome dose of good news came in COVID-19 numbers as the Thanksgiving holiday weekend ended.

All the most important measurements of the disease’s spread dropped — and not just a little. Cases, deaths, hospitalizations and the test positivity rate all improved at both the state and county level. And Clark County took a giant step toward saying good-bye to the mask mandate.

With data from Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday delivered in one big lump, more bad news could have been magnified. But instead:

CASES: 1,823 new cases statewide averaged out over five days was only about 365 cases per day; Clark County’s 1,301 new cases mean only about 260 cases per day.
DEATHS: 13 total deaths statewide, with only 8 in Clark County.
HOSPITALIZATIONS: Dropped by 46 statewide, and by 26 in Clark County.
TEST POSITIVITY RATE: Dropped to 7.2% statewide (from 7.5% before the holiday weekend) and 6.7% in Clark County (from 6.9% before the holiday weekend).

And the number that might have taken the most dramatic turn was the daily case rate, which figures into the answer to the question, “When will the mask mandate end?”

After floating around in the “high” transmission risk for about five weeks in Clark County, the daily case rate plunged by more than 40 points, coming in at 83.9 — “substantial” transmission risk. Although it’s still not low enough to start the countdown on masks, the rate’s dramatic improvement could bring a glimmer of hope for people who are fed up with masks. More details on what’s necessary to end the mandate in the sections below.

A look at current COVID-19 numbers:

CLARK COUNTY

  • New cases: 1,301 (total: 343,399)
  • Deaths: 8 (total: 6,169)
  • Test positivity rate: 6.7% (down from 6.9% last week)
  • Hospitalizations: 549 (down 26 from last week)

NEVADA

  • New cases: 1,823 (total: 456,803)
  • Deaths: 13 (total: 7,985)
  • Test positivity rate: 7.2% (down from 7.5% last week)
  • Hospitalizations: 673 (down 46 from last week)

The state is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on the mask rule. The mandate will remain in place in each county until the following conditions are met:

  • The COVID-19 test positivity rate must be below 8%
  • The case rate (per 100,000 population over 7 days) must be below 50 for two full weeks. A rating above 100 cases per 100,000 individuals or higher is considered “high” transmission risk, while 50-99.99 per 100,000 is considered “substantial” by the CDC. The county must reach “moderate” for two full weeks.

Test positivity in Clark County is at 6.7%, down from 6.9% before the holiday weekend. The current case rate for Clark County is “substantial” at 83.9.

Nevada’s test positivity rate is at 7.2%, down from 7.5% last week. It fell below 5.0%, the World Health Organization’s goal, on May 17 and climbed above it on June 28.

Of the 13 additional COVID-19-related deaths reported in Nevada, 8 were from Clark County. Southern Nevada now accounts for 6,169 of the state’s 7,985 deaths. The 14-day rolling average is at 4 deaths per day.

As of Nov. 24, the Southern Nevada Health District reports there are 210 breakthrough deaths (+8), 687 breakthrough hospitalizations (+35) and 13,476 breakthrough cases (+578). (Increases are compared to numbers reported on Nov. 18.)

As of yesterday, a total of 5,570,433 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Nevada, with an increase of 39,470 since the previous day’s report. The number of tests reported has gone up as more employers require employees to be vaccinated or go through weekly testing.

*NOTE: Daily lab data from DHHS and SNHD reports is updated every morning for the previous day.

TRACKING NV COUNTIES

The test positivity rate in Clark County has dropped below 8%, which takes the county off the state’s watch list for elevated transmission risk. If the county can sustain levels for test positivity and testing, state restrictions — including mask requirements — could be relaxed. A separate measure of the county’s case rate — currently “substantial” at 83.9 cases (per 100,000 population over the past seven days) — needs to drop below 50 for two straight weeks before the mask mandate can end.

In today’s report, nine of Nevada’s 17 counties are still flagged for high transmission.

Clark County’s case rate (441 per 100,000 over the past 30 days) is flagged in data reported today. Test positivity rate (6.7%) and testing (315 tests per day per 100,000) are within the state’s acceptable range.

VACCINATION UPDATE

The state’s health department reports 3,602,171 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Nevada, as of Nov. 28.

As of today, 52.33% of Nevadans currently eligible for the vaccine are fully vaccinated, and 61.44% of the eligible population has initiated vaccinations. Clark County reports that 51.59% of its eligible residents are fully vaccinated.

A BREAKDOWN OF NEVADA HOSPITALIZATIONS

NOTE: The state is not updating hospitalization data on weekends or holidays.

According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the number of hospitalized patients in Nevada was DOWN (-46) from the last report.

The current number of hospitalizations is 673 confirmed/suspected cases. Hospitals reported 157 of those patients were in intensive care units, and 95 were on ventilators. To give some perspective, the state set a record high for hospitalized patients on Dec. 13 with 2,025 cases.

RECOVERY CASES IN SOUTHERN NEVADA

The number of people who have recovered from the virus in Southern Nevada continues to increase. The latest county update estimates a total of 327,202 recovered cases; that’s 95.3% of all reported cases in the county, according to SNHD’s latest report.

The health district provides a daily map with the number of positive tests in each ZIP code in Clark County.

MITIGATION MEASURES IN NEVADA

Nevada reopened to 100% capacity on June 1 and social distancing guidelines lifted, helping the state return to mostly pre-pandemic times, with some exceptions.

The CDC reversed course on July 27, saying fully vaccinated Americans in areas with “substantial and high” transmission should wear masks indoors when in public as COVID-19 cases rise. Most of Nevada falls into those two risk categories.

Nevada said it would adopt the CDC’s guidance with the new mask guideline that went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 30. This overrides Clark County’s employee mask mandate, which went into effect in mid-July.

On Aug. 16, Gov. Sisolak signed a new directive that allows fully vaccinated attendees at large gatherings to remove their masks, but only if the venue chooses to require everyone in attendance to provide proof of vaccination. Those who have just one shot and are not “fully vaccinated” would still be allowed to attend, as would children under 12, but both would need to wear masks.

Masks still must be worn when required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules and regulations, including local businesses and workplace guidance.

State approval for vaccinating children 5-11 years old was given on Nov. 3, with plans by the Southern Nevada Health District to begin vaccinations on Nov. 10. The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine approved for children at this time.

SEE ALSO: Previous day’s report