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COVID-19 cases set record in Washoe, but spread rate in Tahoe communities is relatively low

Coronavirus spread is setting records in Washoe County and is surging a bit in El Dorado and Douglas counties, but the Lake Tahoe region case rate is relatively low.

In El Dorado County, El Dorado Hills has 20 new cases in the last six days and the region has slipped back into orange, a higher level of concern, with a 14-day new case rate greater than or equal to 100 per 100,000.

The Tahoe area also has 20 new cases in the last six days but the county COVID-19 dashboard shows the region remaining in yellow, a moderate level of concern, with a 14-day new case rate of 26-99 per 100,000.



The earliest the county can move into the less restrictive yellow tier of the state’s COVID-19 guidelines as a whole is Nov. 3, but with El Dorado Hills slipping back into orange and Tahoe not too far behind, a change may not happen next week.

The Tahoe region has had 534 of the 1,380 total cases (39%) while El Dorado Hills has had 376 cases (27%). 



One resident is in the hospital, in intensive care, and there have been four deaths.

DOUGLAS COUNTY

Tuesday saw the largest single-day increase in the number of active coronavirus cases in the county since the outbreak began. Eleven new cases of the virus were reported by Carson City Health and Human Services which brought the active case count to 36. 

The previous single-day increase was nine new cases on Oct. 13.

Despite the spike, the county is maintaining an average number of daily cases of 3-4.

The county didn’t see significant spikes in cases after either the Aug. 8 rally supporting Sheriff Dan Coverley or the Sept. 12 visit from President Donald Trump.

As of Thursday, the county has 31 active cases out of 420 overall and there has been one virus-related death.

In the lake communities, there are just three active cases, two in Zephyr Cove and one in Stateline.

WASHOE COUNTY

While most of the county is in the midst of an outbreak, cases remain low in Incline Village. There are eight active cases out of 106 total.

The county overall has set a new record for COVID-19 new cases per day with 197.7 over the last seven days, officials reported Thursday. The previous seven day average was set Wednesday, Oct. 28, and was 182.7. In comparison, on Oct. 5 the seven-day average was 79.3.

The county has had 13,338 cases, of which 2,228 are active, 88 residents are hospitalized and there have been 197 virus-related deaths.

The Nevada COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force approved the county’s action plan to limit the size of public gatherings from 250 to 50, or 50% occupancy (whichever is fewer), starting at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5.

The public gathering limit of 50 will be applied to all events, celebrations and ceremonies – both indoors and outdoors.

For private gatherings, Gov. Sisolak’s directive states that private gatherings be limited to 10 people or fewer indoors and 25 or fewer outdoors. That remains unchanged.

In addition, the Task Force directed a report regarding efforts to address increased reporting on enforcement, increased testing, quicker turnaround times for COVID-19 results and contact tracing. Here is the submitted Washoe County plan.

The Health District may consider allowing outdoor events with fixed seating with more than 50 people on a case-by-case basis due to the lower risk of COVID-19 transmission if properly enforced by the organization.

For more information, visit http://www.COVID19Washoe.com.


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