ELKO – Elko County is reporting one additional COVID-19 death this week, while the number of hospitalizations dropped to one and the number of active cases remained low.
There are 51 active virus cases in the county.
The vaccination rate remains lower than Nevada and the nation as a whole. A total of 11.7% of Elko County’s population has been fully vaccinated, compared with 17.2 across Nevada and 19.2% nationwide.
The head of the CDC says the COVID variant first identified in the United Kingdom is now the most common strain in the United States.This variant is more transmissible and infectious among younger Americans and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says that's contributing to rising case counts in recent weeks.She's urging people to get vaccinated to stop the spread.
A graph on the Nevada Health Response website indicates that the vaccination rate peaked in late March and has been declining over the past week.
The greatest number of deaths over the past month have occurred in Mineral County, at 44 per 100,000 people, compared with five in Clark County, four in Elko County, and two in Washoe, Douglas and Lyon counties.
Beginning this week, vaccinations have been available to anyone 16 or older. Mobile vaccination units are traveling to rural parts of the state through the end of the month, including Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Carlin, Owyhee, Wells, Jackpot and West Wendover.
