By Bob Conrad and Sudhiti Naskar
COVID-19 cases continue to decline. The regional risk meter shows reduced patients, declining ICU use and a reduced daily average of new cases.
That puts the region slightly in the orange “high” area, above moderate, which is where the risk meter is expected to remain for about a week, said Jeremy Smith with the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency.
Smith described the rankings as “incredibly positive.”
Local doctor John Hess said the disease transmission is at a manageable level.
“People’s behavior has been a big, big part of this,” he said, citing reduced travel, social distancing and mask-wearing as reasons for the reduced number of new cases. “Pandemics have sort of a wave function” similar to past pandemics, such as the 1918 Pandemic.
We’re not out of the woods yet, Hess stressed. “The vaccine has the potential to eliminate the possibility of [another wave]. We don’t want to completely let off the gas either.”
Vaccines remain elusive, however, as federal supplies continue to come in short of state requests.
Residents with questions about vaccines are encouraged to call a state hotline for information: 800-401-0846. The call center is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Seniors looking to get vaccinated can visit this link to sign up: https://washoecountynv.seamlessdocs.com/f/SeniorCovid19Vaccine
More than 600 people in Washoe County have died from the coronavirus disease since it arrived in March of 2020.
Statewide COVID numbers
As of today, Nevada has logged 285,136 cases, with the 14-day rolling average of daily cases being 696.
- Nevada has now completed a total of 2,563,980 molecular tests since the beginning of COVID-19.
- The test positivity rate over the last 14 days is 15.3%.
- The Nevada Hospital Association (NHA) reports Nevada is continuing to see a downward trend in hospitalizations. There are currently 971 COVID-19 confirmed and suspected hospitalizations.
- There are 16 daily deaths from COVID-19 on a 14 day-moving-average.
- As of Feb. 9, only 1.44% of Nevadans have been vaccinated
