Clark County Public Health reported 23 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths Wednesday.
The new cases bring the county’s total to 2,478 cases to date. Deaths remained at 48.
There are 18 people hospitalized in Clark County with COVID-19 and 10 others hospitalized awaiting test results.
Public Health officials also released new demographic data this week that offers a look at how the novel coronavirus is affecting different communities — and underscores the challenges in tracking such information.
For example, the categories labeled no data, unknown/declined and other account for more than 45 percent of all responses when tracking the racial distribution of COVID-19 cases.
White/Caucasian accounted for more than 50 percent of the remaining cases, with 1.6 percent Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, 1.43 percent Asian, 1.35 percent Black/African American, and 0.49 percent American Indian/Alaska Native.
Omitting the no data/etc. categories, the racial distribution of the remaining COVID-19 patients becomes: White/Caucasian, 91.09 percent; Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, 2.91 percent; Black/African American, 2.46 percent; Asian, 2.61 percent; and American Indian/Alaska Native,” 0.89 percent.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data on racial origin, 86.1 percent of Clark County identifies as white, 5 percent identify as Asian, 2.4 percent identify as Black or African American, 1.2 percent identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.9 percent identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.
The lack of data also impacts Public Health data examining the ethnicity of those with COVID-19. No data/unknown-declined/other accounts for 30.47 percent of all cases. Cases among those described as non-Hispanic/Latino account for 45.21 percent of the total, while those described as Hispanic/Latino account for 24.31 percent.
Omitting the no data/etc. numbers, the breakdown of the remaining cases are non-Hispanic/Latino 65.03 percent, and Hispanic/Latino, 34.96 percent.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data on ethnicity, 10 percent of Clark County’s population identifies as Hispanic or Latino.
