Nevada sees 330 virus cases, governor pushes back on Trump

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada reported 330 new cases of the coronavirus as the governor pushed back Monday against President Donald Trump's comments at a weekend rally suggesting that testing should slow down.

Gov. Steve Sisolak's office said the Democrat brought up the president's comments during a conference call involving the nation's governors and Vice President Mike Pence. Sisolak told Pence the president's comments were “not helpful."

“We are doing everything we can in Nevada to increase our testing, to increase the availability of the testing and our cases have gone up, it’s not solely a result of more testing, it’s also a result of people not wearing masks and not following the social protocols,” Sisolak said, according to a partial transcript of his remarks released by his office.

The governor's office did not respond to inquiries seeking information about the vice president's response.

Trump complained at a campaign rally in Oklahoma on Saturday that robust testing was making his record on the virus look bad and suggested testing should slow down. A White House adviser later said Trump’s remark was “tongue in cheek.”

Nevada on Monday reported 330 new cases of COVID-19. The increase came as the state's positivity rate continues to climb, meaning a higher percentage of those tested are found to be positive. The rate Saturday, the most recent number available, was 5.6%.

Twice last week on Thursday and Friday, Nevada hit its highest daily count of coronavirus cases, which officials said could only be partially attributed to more widespread testing.

Overall, more than 13,500 cases of the virus have been reported in Nevada, including 489 deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear...