LAS VEGAS  — Nevada officials have opened an investigation into a spike in COVID-19 deaths among residents of a Las Vegas nursing home that accounts for about one-fourth of the 93 deaths tied to the virus at all state-regulated institutions.

The Department of Health and Human Services reported that 24 residents of The Heights of Summerlin have died from the coronavirus. Media reports said as many as 16 of the facility's residents' deaths were registered on Wednesday.

But department spokeswoman Shannon Litz said the deaths happened over a longer period of time. She said the nursing home had failed to report the deaths in a timely fashion.