The Emergence of New Strains of COVID Causes Fear

LAS VEGAS – This past week, there were 19 new cases in Clark County, and the discovery of new coronavirus variants made people worry about a wave of infections in the winter.

An official with the Southern Nevada Health District said that Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BA2.75.2 have been found in wastewater in Southern Nevada over the past 10 days. By keeping an eye on coronavirus that has left the body and is now in the wastewater system, disease trends can be seen early on.

On Wednesday, Cassius Lockett, in charge of disease surveillance and control for the health district, said, “We’re worried that BQ.1 will spread and be the cause of this small wave we’re seeing.”

He said that recent increases in confirmed cases in the county were “marginal,” but he also said, “A marginal increase can turn into a moderate increase if one of these variants gets a foothold, and it could even lead to a surge.”

According to new data from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, the average number of confirmed new cases per day in Clark County has increased from 93 last week to 112. The average for the whole state went up from 129 to 151. Because more people are using at-home rapid tests, which don’t report positive results, these case counts are likely to be low.

Last week, there were 111 confirmed and possible COVID-19 hospitalizations in Clark County. This week, that number dropped to 99. Hospitalizations in the whole state went down from 138 to 126. Most of the time, hospitalizations follow increases in new cases by a few weeks.

Another lagging indicator of disease trends, the 14-day average of daily new deaths stood at zero in the county and dropped from one to zero at the state level.

Credits: Review Journal