INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – The Washoe County Health District on Friday announced its first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, also known as the UK variant.
The Nevada State Public Health Laboratory confirmed the new variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom.
The confirmed case is a female in her 30s whose infection is linked to attendance at a large gathering in Washoe County with more than 60 people from multiple states.
So far, there have been reports of 17 additional COVID-19 infections linked to this event, though not all of the 17 cases are Washoe County residents.
Additional genomic sequencing is underway to determine if more B.1.1.7 cases are confirmed but many specimens are not available for genomic sequencing.
State breaks record for single-day COVID deaths
Nevada broke a record for the number of COVID-19 related deaths Thursday with 62 deaths reported over the previous day.
The previous record was 60 deaths, which was reported on Jan. 6. Today, it is with great sorrow that we acknowledge the passing of 62 Nevadans that lost the battle against COVID-19, a record high of reported deaths, said Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak in a tweet. This is yet another somber milestone in our State’s efforts against this pandemic. We have lost more than 3,600 fellow Nevadans.
15 deaths, 168 new cases in Washoe County
Washoe County health officials announced 15 coronavirus-related deaths and 168 newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Washoe County health officials reported five more COVID-19 deaths and 239 newly identified cases of the virus over the past day, according to a Tuesday afternoon press release.
The deaths were those of four men and one woman, ages ranging from 60s to 90s. In all, 544 Washoe County residents or about one out of every 880 have died of coronavirus-related causes since the pandemic began.
Since the pandemic began, the county has diagnosed 38,652 cases of the coronavirus, a little more than 8% of the county s estimated 478,000 residents.
The county also reported 386 new vaccinations against COVID-19 issued by the Washoe County Health District on Tuesday, bringing the total number of vaccinations by the health district to 8,708. Seventeen other agencies also have received doses of the vaccine; vaccinations by those agencies aren t reflected in the health district s total.