Arizona reports nearly 7,000 new COVID cases, 18 deaths

Arizona’s new-case rate again ranked highest in the country as the state reported nearly 7,000 new COVID-19 cases and 18 new known deaths from the disease on Sunday.

The state’s seven-day new-case average ranked first among all states Sunday after ranking first and second the past two weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker.

Arizona’s rate of new positive cases over the last seven days was 116.9 cases per 100,000 people, per the CDC. The U.S. average for new cases is 66.8 cases per 100,000 people.

Arizona’s average daily COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people over the past seven days ranked second in the nation as of Sunday, CDC data show.

The state surpassed 11,000 known deaths from COVID-19 Friday after passing 10,000 deaths just six days earlier. Many of the deaths occurred days or weeks prior, due to reporting delays and death certificate matching.

The state reported more than 17,200 new cases Jan. 3, the highest number of new COVID-19 cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began, toppling the state’s previous record from Dec. 8 by nearly 5,000 cases.

The Arizona data dashboard shows 93% of all ICU beds and 92% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Saturday, with 62% of ICU beds and 55% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 131 ICU beds and 719 non-ICU beds were available.

The number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 4,773 on Saturday, below last Monday’s record 5,082 inpatients. By comparison, the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.

The number of patients with suspected or known COVID-19 in ICUs across Arizona was at 1,118 on Saturday, slightly below the record high of 1,183 last Monday. During the summer surge in mid-July, ICU beds in use for COVID-19 peaked at 970.

Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 800 on Saturday, which is 21 less than the record high reached on Jan. 13. During the summer surge, July 16 was the peak day for ventilator use, with 687 patients.

Friday saw 2,012 patients in the emergency room for COVID-19, below the Dec. 29 single-day record of 2,341 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients seen in emergency departments across the state.

New cases in Arizona have eclipsed 5,000 for 29 of the past 31 days.

Sunday’s 6,981 new cases brought the total number of identified COVID-19 cases in the state to 673,882. As of Sunday, 11,266 Arizonans are known to have died from the disease, according to the data dashboard from the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Sunday’s numbers

Reported cases in Arizona: 673,882. Cases since the outbreak began increased by 6,981, or 1.05%, from Saturday’s 666,901 identified cases. These daily cases are grouped by the date they are reported to the Arizona Department of Health Services, not by the date the tests were administered.

Cases by county: 417,839 in Maricopa, 90,084 in Pima, 36,735 in Pinal, 32,932 in Yuma, 16,734 in Mohave, 14,748 in Yavapai, 13,943 in Coconino, 13,343 in Navajo, 9,589 in Cochise, 8,634 in Apache, 7,039 in Santa Cruz, 5,389 in Gila, 4,361 in Graham, 2,029 in La Paz and 483 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The Navajo Nation reported 26,287 cases and 915 confirmed deaths in total as of Friday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 8,463 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, including 1,661 in Yuma, 1,612 in Tucson, 1,279 in Eyman and 1,118 in Douglas; 43,219 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,206 prison staff members have self-reported testing positive, the department said. Twenty-eight incarcerated people in Arizona have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with 17 additional deaths under investigation.

Deaths by county: 6,444 in Maricopa, 1,422 in Pima, 633 in Yuma, 490 in Pinal, 439 in Mohave, 392 in Navajo, 325 in Yavapai, 278 in Apache, 245 in Coconino, 191 in Cochise, 167 in Gila, 132 in Santa Cruz, 58 in Graham, 46 in La Paz and four in Greenlee.