COVID-19 cases and deaths related to the virus are still very high in Washoe County but the daily new cases are dropping rapidly. The Omicron surge has infected a record number of people compared to previous variants. Since the pandemic started in March, 2020, Washoe County has reported 100,144 positive cases. About one quarter of those cases have happened in 2022, including 22,895 since January 9.

"To put that in perspective, when the pandemic started, it took us nine months to reach 22,000 cases in Washoe County and we've reached up well over 22,000 cases just in the last month," Kevin Dick, Washoe County Health District Officer said.

1,108 people have died of the disease since the pandemic started, countywide. Deaths continue to rise, despite the less-severe Omicron variant. Washoe County is reporting 81 COVID-related deaths in 2022. 

"We knew that we were going to have an increase in deaths occurring because of the shear number of COVID-19 cases that hit our community," Dick said.

Several states are relaxing their mask mandates, including California and Oregon. Nevada's mask mandate aligns with CDC guidelines but there are questions of how long Gov. Steve Sisolak will keep that policy in place. Dick says a decision to remove the mandate should be taken with caution.

"It's been important that we've kept the mask mandate in place and it will be a decision at the state level," Dick said. "It's not our mask mandate."

Dick says removing a mask requirement in schools could also cause an increase in cases.

"What we've seen, historically, is as we've removed mitigation measures, there has been an increase in cases that are occurring because that layer of protection isn't in place anymore," Dick said.

Hospitalizations are decreasing in Washoe County with 126 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. Countywide, hospitals are at 88 percent of capacity. Dick says vaccinations and boosters are helping to keep hospitals from overcrowding and reaching the high levels that Clark County saw.

"You get much more protection and improved reduction in that risk of hospitalization and death if you get boosted and are fully up-to-date with that booster shot," Dick said.

Washoe County and Carson City lead the state in vaccination rate. 64.32 percent of the population over the age of five has completed the process but only 27.7 percent of those eligible for the booster have received it. Dick says upwards of 9,000 residents were getting boosted each week as the Omicron variant arrived in December. That has dropped to around 4,000 per week.

"I'd like to see that number go back up and we have plenty of vaccine availability and opportunities for people to get boosted," Dick said.

Washoe County is averaging 306.7 daily new cases over the last seven days. That is down from 1,164 at the peak, January 21.

"There's been a lot of comment about Omicron being less-severe," Dick said. "It doesn't mean it's like the common cold or the flu, particularly for people that are unvaccinated."

Daily new cases are at their lowest levels since January 4, when the average was 295.3 cases per day.