Arizona virus cases top 100,000

COVID-19 infection figure doubles in just 16 days

Known cases of COVID-19 in Arizona passed 100,000 on Monday, just over five months since the first case was identified in Maricopa County in late January and just over two weeks since the case count passed 50,000.

Identified cases rose to 101,441 and known deaths total 1,810, according to the daily report by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The state does not report the number of recovered cases, though it does report hospital discharges.

Rapid case increases and hospitalizations have made Arizona now among the worst hot spots in the nation for COVID-19. The disease is widespread here, and health officials caution people to stay home unless necessary to leave and to wear masks in public.

Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Arizona on Wednesday, said he is deploying hundreds of medical personnel to assist the state.

Hospitalizations in inpatient and ICU beds and ventilators in use by COVID-19 patients rose on Sunday to their highest reported levels since hospital data reporting began in early April. As of Sunday,

a record 3,212 inpatient hospital beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients, in addition to a record 839 ICU beds filled across the state.

Monday’s dashboard shows 84% of current inpatient beds and 89% of ICU beds were in use, which includes people being treated for COVID-19 and other patients.

Most people who get the disease are not hospitalized.

The path to 100,000 known cases

Arizona reported its first known case of COVID-19 on Jan. 26 — a member of the Arizona State University community who had traveled to Wuhan, China. At that point, he was the fifth confirmed case in the U.S.

From there, Arizona’s case count increased, albeit relatively slowly compared to spikes seen in other parts of the country. By the end of March, there were more than 1,000 known cases in the state.

Starting in late May, after Gov. Doug Ducey’s stayat-home order expired, cases began ballooning and have been spiking daily since.

Arizona’s total case count passed 50,000 on June 21 and doubled to more than 100,000 in two weeks.

Here are some of the major case milestones by date reported: First case: Jan. 26 100 cases: March 21 1,000 cases: March 30 10,000 cases: May 8 25,000 cases: June 6 50,000 cases: June 21 75,000 cases: June 30 100,000 cases: July 6

These are not all the COVID-19 cases in the state. Many new coronavirus cases are believed to be asymptomatic, meaning people can spread the virus without knowing they have it. Those people are less likely to be tested and make it into the official count. Many others may have been unable to get tested due to test shortages early on or are still waiting for their results.

Arizonans have recently reported delays in getting tested and waits of as long as three weeks to get results. The daily cases reported are not all from the previous day’s results — they could have been tests conducted weeks ago.

While increased testing over the past month has contributed to an increase in known cases, it is only one factor resulting in the big increase in case numbers. The percentage of tests coming back positive has spiked sharply since mid-May, indicating a significant increase in community spread.

During the past three weeks, cases increased by 176% and tests increased by just 79%. Last week, 22% of tests conducted came back positive.

Here’s what you need to know about Monday’s new numbers.

Reported cases in Arizona: 101,441

Cases increased by 3,352, or 3.4%, from Sunday’s 98,089 identified cases since the outbreak began.

County cases: 64,915 in Maricopa, 9,873 in Pima, 7,431 in Yuma, 4,600 in Pinal, 3,904 in Navajo, 2,441 in Apache, 2,190 in Coconino, 2,002 in Santa Cruz, 1,413 in Mohave, 948 in Yavapai, 826 in Cochise, 371 in La Paz, 349 in Gila, 152 in Graham and 26 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The rate of cases per 100,000 people is highest in Santa Cruz County, followed by Navajo, Apache and Yuma counties.

The Navajo Nation reported 7,840 cases and 378 confirmed deaths as of Sunday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Arizona Department of Corrections said 457 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday; 3,819 inmates have been tested out of a population of more than 40,000. Four incarcerated people have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with eight additional deaths under investigation.

While race/ethnicity is unknown for 51% of cases, 23% of cases are Hispanic or Latino, 15% of cases are white, 7% are Native American and 2% are Black.

Laboratories have completed 617,343 diagnostic tests for COVID-19, 13.4% of which have come back positive. The percent of positive tests has increased in the past month. It was 22% last week.

Reported deaths: 1,810 known deaths

On Monday, one new death was reported. County deaths: 881 in Maricopa, 282 in Pima, 133 in Navajo, 98 in Yuma, 96 in Coconino, 92 in Apache, 88 in Mohave, 78 in Pinal, 24 in Santa Cruz, 14 in Cochise, 10 in Yavapai, six in Gila, five in La Paz and fewer than three in Graham and Greenlee.

People aged 65 and older made up 1,322 of the 1,810 deaths, or 73%.

While race/ethnicity is unknown for 14% of deaths, 42% of those who died were white, 22% were Hispanic or Latino, 17% were Native American and 3% were Black.

Hospitalizations hover at high levels

Inpatients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 tallied a record 3,212 statewide on Sunday. Hospitalizations have eclipsed 1,000 daily since June 1 and surpassed 2,000 for the past two weeks.

Ventilator use for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients was at 533 on Sunday, the highest number so far. Overall, 51% of ventilators remained available Sunday.

ICU bed use for suspected and confirmed positive COVID-19 patients was at 839 on Sunday, the highest number so far. The number has been above 500 daily since June 15, with a relatively steady increase in the weeks since.

Emergency department visits for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 dropped to 1,306 Sunday. Emergency department visits hit a record 1,847 patients Thursday. Visits surpassed 800 on June 5 and have been above that level every day since. During April and May, emergency department daily visits for COVID-19 were typically in the 400s and 500s, rising into the 600s in the last few days of May.

The number of patients with suspected or confirmed positive COVID-19 discharged from hospitals was at 475 on Sunday, continuing high discharge numbers over the past week. This is the highest number of discharges so far.