Nevada coronovirus deaths climb to 10; include 1st under 50
Doctors and healthcare workers with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine suit up in personal protective equipment before taking patients at a drive-through coronavirus testing site Tuesday, March 24, 2020, in Las Vegas. UNLV Medicine, the clinical arm of the UNLV School of Medicine, started conducting COVID-19 testing by appointment for people who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A healthcare worker with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine tests a patient for the coronavirus at a drive-through testing site Tuesday, March 24, 2020, in Las Vegas. UNLV Medicine, the clinical arm of the UNLV School of Medicine, started conducting COVID-19 testing by appointment for people who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A worker with Clinical Pathology Laboratories waits for patients at a drive-through coronavirus testing site Tuesday, March 24, 2020, in Las Vegas. UNLV Medicine, the clinical arm of the UNLV School of Medicine, started conducting COVID-19 testing by appointment for people who meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A worker prepares bags of food at a high school Thursday, March 26, 2020, in Las Vegas. The Clark County School district is distributing food to students at schools closed due to coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Locher)
FILE - This Oct. 20, 2009 file photo shows casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Before closing in mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak, Nevada casinos had a very good February _ taking in more than $1 billion in house winnings for the third month in a row, regulators reported Thursday, March 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2016, file photo, pedestrians pass beneath the Reno arch as traffic passes on Virginia Street in downtown Reno, Nev. All bars, nightclubs, restaurants and gyms will close in Reno by 5 p.m. Friday, March 20, 2020, in an effort to reduce the risk of exposure to coronavirus, Mayor Hillary Schieve announced. Schieve initially included casinos on the closure list late Monday with plans to begin the shutdowns Tuesday morning. But she quickly rescinded that directive and further clarified restaurants can continue carry-out orders and keep drive-thru windows open. (AP Photo/Sc…
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The coronavirus has claimed 10 lives in Nevada, including the first person younger than 50, state health officials said Thursday.
The four new deaths confirmed Thursday were the most in a single day. They included a man from Clark County in his 30s with underlying medical conditions, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. Another Clark County man in his 60s was the first victim in Nevada with no known underlying medical conditions.
There are 420 cases of coronavirus statewide. All 10 deaths have occurred in the Las Vegas area, with the first confirmed on March 16.
The disclosures came as a report was released ranking Nevada among the three worst states nationally in hospital preparedness for the coronavirus outbreak based on the number of hospital beds and physicians per 1,000 people. The other two are Utah and Idaho.
The new study by QuoteWizard, an online insurance advertising marketer owned by LendingTree, is based on an analysis of Kaiser Family Foundation data that shows Nevada's average is two physicians and two beds per 1,000 people. Nationwide, there are an average of 2.96 physicians and 2.4 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
As of last week, the Nevada Hospital Association reported 76% of the rooms in intensive care units in Nevada were occupied, as were 84% of the overall number of licensed and staffed hospital beds. Those numbers were last updated March 17.
Meghin Delaney, chief spokeswoman for the Nevada Health Response Center established by Gov. Steve Sisolak, said officials hoped to start updating figures each day as early as Friday.
Sisolak has warned that the virus “is going to get worse before it gets better.”
“Like so many other states, Nevada’s health system will not be able to handle an excessive increase in patients all at once without rapidly straining resources,” he said.
Dr. Tony Slonim, president and CEO of Renown Health in Reno, said the public seems to be focused on equipment shortages, including ventilators.
Just as important, he said, is that “we have an ample number of people to care for people who may get sick. We need to have specialists who can run ventilators.”
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The 30-39 age group accounts for about one in five of the cases in Nevada — the most of any single age group. People in 10-year groups beginning at 20 account for between 14% and 16% of the positive cases. People 70 and older make up 12%.
Five people in their 60s have died, two in their 70s, and one each in their 30s, 50s and 80s, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.