Arizona reports 2,938 new COVID-19 cases, 238 deaths

Arizona on Tuesday reported a relatively low 2,938 new COVID-19 cases and declining hospitalizations alongside a high 238 new known deaths and the top rank nationally for case rate over the past week.

Arizona’s seven-day, new-case average ranked first Monday among all states, after ranking first and second for much of January, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker.

The state’s rate of new positive cases over the last seven days was 70.3 cases per 100,000 people, per the CDC, trailed by South Carolina with 69.5 cases per 100,000. The U.S. average for new cases was 43.7 cases per 100,000 people.

The state’s average daily COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people over the past seven days ranked third in the nation as of Monday, per the CDC.

Arizona’s newly reported 238 deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 13,362. The state surpassed 13,000 deaths on Friday, just one week after it passed 12,000 and two weeks after 11,000 deaths. The state exceeded 10,000 known deaths on Jan. 9. Arizona’s first known death from the disease occurred in midMarch.

In about one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 765,083 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state.

The Arizona data dashboard shows 88% of all ICU beds and 90% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Monday, with 52% of ICU beds and 40% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 212 ICU beds and 887 non-ICU beds were available.

The number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 3,513 on Monday, below the record 5,082 inpatients on Jan. 11. The number of patients with suspected or known COVID-19 in ICUs across Arizona was at 944 on Monday, below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11.

Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 671 on Monday, below the record-high 821 reached on Jan. 13.

Monday saw 1,486 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.

Cases by county: 477,026 in Maricopa, 102,320 in Pima, 42,930 in Pinal, 35,271 in Yuma, 19,717 in Mohave, 16,385 in Yavapai, 15,313 in Coconino, 14,597 in Navajo, 10,484 in Cochise, 9,643 in Apache, 7,450 in Santa Cruz, 6,036 in Gila, 5,128 in Graham, 2,256 in La Paz and 526 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The rate of cases per 100,000 people is highest in Yuma County, followed by Santa Cruz, Apache, Graham and Navajo counties. The rate in Yuma County is 15,338 cases per 100,000 people. By comparison, the U.S. average rate as of Monday was 7,842 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC.

The Navajo Nation reported 28,388 cases and 1,020 confirmed deaths in total as of Monday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Tribal leaders halted weekend lockdowns after Jan. 25, although a stay-at-home order and nightly curfew remained in effect.

Deaths by county: 7,559 in Maricopa, 1,795 in Pima, 715 in Yuma, 627 in Pinal, 533 in Mohave, 437 in Navajo, 393 in Yavapai, 314 in Apache, 280 in Coconino, 233 in Cochise, 191 in Gila, 151 in Santa Cruz, 66 in Graham, 62 in La Paz and six in Greenlee.