The Board of County Commissioners acting as the County Board of Health received a briefing from Carson City Health and Human Services (CCHHS) on the status of COVID -19 in Lyon County and the Quad County region. CCHHS Representative, Jeanne Freeman, provide the following:

Lyon County August 2 – 15, 2020

Quad-County Area

Across the quad-county area (Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey Counties), there were 184 new cases in the two-week period from August 2 to August 15, 2020. The average age across all counties was 40 years old, a four-year average decrease from the previous two-week period.

Sixty percent of the cases were NonHispanic or Latino, and fifty-five percent identified as “white.” The distribution of males and females was even with 92 confirmed-case females and 92 confirmed-case males. There were four hospitalizations and two deaths throughout the quad-county area during this two-week period.

Lyon County

In Lyon County, there were 65 confirmed cases from August 2-15, 2020, a thirty-five percent increase in the number of cases from the previous fourteen-day period. This accounts for approximately thirty-five percent of the quad-county area confirmed-cases. Gender distribution of cases in Lyon was approximately even with thirty-three females and thirty-two males.

The average age of these cases was 42 years old, slightly older than the quad-county average. Forty-nine percent of the Lyon cases were Non-Hispanic or Latino, and sixty-six percent identified as “white.” Three of the new Lyon County cases were hospitalized during this two-week period. Lyon County cases resided predominantly in Dayton (40 percent), Fernley (34 percent), and Yerington (14 percent). Moundhouse, Silver Springs, and Stagecoach only had two or three cases each. Across all cases in Lyon county, fifteen percent reported being healthcare workers.

Exposure Data for Lyon County

Exposure for Covid-19 is defined as contact or visitation in the fourteen days prior to symptom onset or testing positive. The most common exposures for Lyon County cases were travel to another state, restaurants and bars, retail and grocery stores, and contact with a known Covid-19 case.

Among cases, fifty-six percent had previous contact with a known Covid-19 case, typically through work or their household. Across all cases, fifty-two percent had been to a retail or grocery store in the fourteen days prior to testing positive, a rate higher than anywhere else in the Quad-County Area.

Also among cases, approximately twenty-seven percent had traveled to another state within fourteen days of testing. The most common state of travel among county cases was California. Six percent of all Lyon County cases reported attending church, a rate higher than anywhere else in the Quad-County Area. Other exposures included dining inside a restaurant or bar (11 percent), and attending a community-event, mass gathering, or social event (8 percent), and visiting or residing in a skilled nursing facility (5 percent).

Commissioner Hasting questioned the process for state employees that are mandated to be tested and how those numbers are reported. Ms. Freeman explained that those numbers are reported to the State Health and are to be counted in the Lyon County tests. CCHHS does not receive those results.

Commissioner Dini expressed dissatisfaction with the length of time over test results coming in. Ms. Freeman explained that the average for the State lab is 5-7 days. She further explained that many of the reported delays are coming from the private labs.

For up-to-date information on COVID -19 please go to: https://gethealthycarsoncity.org/novel-coronavirus-2019/