9,945 confirmed cases, 450 deaths

Arizona cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, now approach 10,000, with 450 known deaths, according to numbers released on Thursday by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Arizona’s total identified cases rose to 9,945, according to the most recent state figures. That’s an increase of 238 confirmed cases, or 2.5%, since Wednesday when the state reported 9,707 identified cases and 426 deaths.

Over the past three days, 88 new deaths have been reported, marking a significant increase from days prior. But many of those deaths may not have actually occurred this week. The number of new deaths reported each day represents the additional known deaths identified by the health department that day, but they are often not identified on the actual death date, and could have occurred weeks prior.

According to the department’s data, the dates with the most deaths in a single day so far are April 19 and April 20, with 20 deaths each.

Maricopa County’s confirmed cases approach 5,200, according to state numbers. All of Arizona’s 15 counties have reported cases.

The state planned to provide numbers of recovered cases for the first time on Monday. As of Thursday morning, that data was not yet available.

The number of Arizona cases likely is higher than official numbers suggest because of limits on supplies and available tests, which led to the state initially issuing guidelines that restricted who should be tested.

However, the state announced on April 23 that anyone who thinks they could be infected can now get tested. The governor’s office and health department announced a “testing blitz” with the goal of testing 10,000 to 20,000 individuals each Saturday for three weekends. May 2 was the first day of the blitz and it will take place again on May 9.

Arizona has significantly increased diagnostic testing over the past two weeks due to loosened testing requirements and the weekend blitz. The percentage of positive tests per week decreased from 11% three weeks ago to 7% last week, likely in part because a broader range of people are being tested rather than just the very sick.

State hospitalization data shows slight fluctuations in numbers of COVID-19 patients in inpatient and ICU bed use, but the numbers have been fairly stable over the last couple of weeks.

The latest Arizona data

As of Thursday morning, the state reported death totals from these counties: 204 in Maricopa, 118 in Pima, 49 in Coconino, 32 in Navajo, 19 in Mohave, 15 in Pinal, seven in Apache and three in Yavapai.

La Paz County reported two deaths and Yuma County reported one death as of Wednesday. Information on deaths in those counties differed on the state site on Thursday, showing fewer than three deaths for each of the two counties.

Gila, Greenlee, Graham, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties each reported no deaths as of Thursday, according to state data.

People 65 and older made up 354 of the 450 total deaths. While race/ethnicity is unknown for 16% of deaths, 45% of deaths were white, 18% were Native American and 14% were Hispanic or Latino.

Overall, Arizona has 138.3 cases and 6.26 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to state data. The situation differs by county, with Maricopa having 119 cases and 4.67 deaths per 100,000 residents and Coconino having 419.6 cases and 33.27 deaths per 100,000 residents, for example. Navajo County has 808.3 cases and 28.36 deaths per 100,000 residents. Of the 9,945 cases, 33% have chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiac disease, hypertension, chronic pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease or chronic liver disease. In addition, 44% of all cases are considered “highrisk,” meaning the individual is either over 65 or has a chronic condition.

Of all confirmed cases, 6% are younger than 20, 38% are aged 20 to 44, 17% are aged 45 to 54, 16% are aged 55 to 64 and 23% are over 65. This aligns with the proportions of testing done for each age range.

The state health department website said both state and private laboratories have completed a total of 96,434 diagnostic tests for COVID-19, according to the number posted Thursday on the agency website. 14,652 serology, or antibody, tests have been completed.

Most COVID-19 diagnostic tests come back negative, the state’s dashboard shows, with 8.1% of all tests coming back positive. For serology tests, 3.7% of all tests have come back positive.

Cases rise in other counties

According to Thursday’s state update, Pima County reported 1,465 identified cases. Navajo County reported 912 cases, while Apache County reported 630. Coconino County reported 618, Pinal County reported 530, Mohave County reported 158, Yavapai County reported 152 (county officials previously reported 153) and Yuma County reported 148.

Cochise County reported 40 cases, Santa Cruz County reported 38, La Paz County reported 20 (county officials previously reported 23), Graham County reported 19, Gila County reported 17 and Greenlee County reported two, according to state numbers.

All counties but Cochise, Graham and Greenlee saw an increase in case numbers from Wednesday.

The Navajo Nation had 2,654 identified cases and 85 confirmed deaths.