Regional Information Center Update – Oct. 5
1 COVID-19-related death, 10,000th Washoe County case reported
Health District Hotline:
775.328.2427
Follow us on Twitter:
Twitter.com/covid19washoe
Reno/Sparks, NV – The Regional Information Center is reporting a COVID-19-related death in Washoe County: A male in his 60s with an underlying health condition. There have been 165 COVID-19-related deaths in Washoe County.
Additionally, there are 121 COVID-19 recoveries to report with 97 new COVID-19 cases. The total number of cases has surpassed 10,000 with 10,010 reported.
- Total COVID-19 cases in Washoe County: 10,010 (+97 from 10/4)
- Deaths: 165 (+1)
- Recovered: 8,640 (+121)
- Active cases: 1,205 (-25)
- Currently hospitalized: 67 (-3)
- Cases who have discharged from hospital: 705 (+15)
COVID-19 tests performed in Washoe County
- Total number of COVID-19 tests performed in Washoe County as of October 5: 148,143 (+1,047 since 10/4)
Note: These figures are provided by the State of Nevada and can be found on the State Dashboard. COVID-19 tests may include non-Washoe County residents who were tested in Washoe County.
Hospital bed and ventilator information
According to the Nevada Hospital Association, in Washoe County as of October 5:
- 61 percent of all staffed short-term, acute-care hospital beds are occupied (-2% since 10/2)
- 49 percent of the all Intensive Care Unit beds are occupied (+2%)
- 16 percent of all ventilators are in use (+0%)
NOTE: Numbers are for all hospital patients in Washoe County and not just COVID-19 patients.
Washoe County still flagged for elevated COVID-19 transmission by Governor’s Task Force
The Nevada COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force released its latest COVID-19 County Tracker information on Monday and Washoe County continued to be flagged for elevated disease transmission.
Washoe County was flagged for two of the three criteria: 412.2 case rate per 100,000 over the last 30 days (threshold is 200) and 8.4 percent test positivity over a 14-day period with a 7-day lag (threshold is 7%). In comparison, the last report from the task force had Washoe County’s case rate per 100,000 at 397.2 and test positivity at 7.8 percent.
See the County Tracker information here.
Process for COVID-19 data cleanup
The Washoe County Health District – Epidemiology and Public Health Preparedness division routinely updates data related to COVID-19 in Washoe County to ensure that the public is aware of COVID-19 matters. We take this data seriously and post relevant information specific to Washoe County in our COVID-19 Dashboard.
On Sunday, we reported a large number of recoveries that was a result of data cleanup, which was one day after hitting a high mark for active COVID-19 cases, and received several questions about it.
Several of the cases reported as “recovered” were not cases investigated by the Health District; rather, they were investigated by other entities such as our tribal partners and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Some cases are interviewed by those organizations due to licensing and other jurisdictional boundaries.
Other cases were not able to be reached to close out their investigation; however, if they have not been reported hospitalized and more than two months have passed since their initial diagnoses, they are assumed to have been recovered. Recovery is defined as no longer considered infectious, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defined guidance for infectiousness.
We understand how this can cause confusion among the public, especially over the weekend, and are working to ensure that these audits, or clean-ups, are done that limit the large changes when applicable. We thank you for your patience.
The COVID-19 Regional Information Center is working together to deliver COVID-19 community updates in a unified manner. While press releases are only sent periodically for significant events, you can always get daily results on our website, https://covid19washoe.com/, our COVID-19 Dashboard or by following us on Twitter @COVID19Washoe. The entities include: City of Reno, City of Sparks, North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Regional Transportation Commission, REMSA, Reno Sparks Indian Colony, Reno Police Department, Reno Fire Department, Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, University of Nevada, Reno, Washoe County, Washoe County Health District, Washoe County School District and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. Also in the group are the area hospitals, Northern Nevada Medical Center, Renown Health and Saint Mary’s.