Arizona approaches 14,000 known COVID-19 deaths
Arizona reported Friday a recent relative low of 3,826 new COVID-19 cases and 196 new known deaths as hospitalizations for the disease continued to decline but remain at high levels.
Arizona’s seven-day, new-case average ranked fourth on Thursday 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 56.6 cases per 100,000 people, per the CDC, trailing Texas with 69.2, South Carolina with 65.4 and North Carolina with 59 cases per 100,000. The U.S. average for new cases was 40.5 cases per 100,000 people.
The state’s average daily COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people over the past seven days ranked fourth in the nation as of Thursday, per the CDC.
Arizona’s newly reported 196 deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 13,948.
The state surpassed 13,000 deaths last 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 mid-March.
Many of the deaths occurred days or weeks prior, due to reporting delays and death certificate matching.
In about one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 775,622 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state.
The Arizona data dashboard shows 87% of all ICU beds and 90% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Wednesday, with 51% of ICU beds and 37% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 226 ICU beds and 830 non-ICU beds were available.
The number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 3,167 on Thursday, 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 909 on Thursday, below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11.
Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 573 on Thursday, below the recordhigh 821 reached on Jan. 13.
Thursday saw 1,633 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 22 of the past 30 days. This week has seen some lower case reports.
More numbers of note
Cases by county: 483,775 in Maricopa, 103,932 in Pima, 43,558 in Pinal, 35,485 in Yuma, 19,977 in Mohave, 16,474 in Yavapai, 15,565 in Coconino, 14,835 in Navajo, 10,608 in Cochise, 9,819 in Apache, 7,493 in Santa Cruz, 6,132 in Gila, 5,140 in Graham, 2,294 in La Paz and 533 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 15,431 cases per 100,000 people. By comparison, the U.S. average rate as of Thursday was 7,951 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC.
The Navajo Nation reported 28,668 cases and 1,047 confirmed deaths in total as of Wednesday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Tribal leaders halted weekend lockdowns after Jan. 25, although a stayat-home order and nightly curfew remained in effect.
Deaths by county: 7,885 in Maricopa, 1,899 in Pima, 738 in Yuma, 659 in Pinal, 561 in Mohave, 449 in Navajo, 411 in Yavapai, 325 in Apache, 288 in Coconino, 238 in Cochise, 199 in Gila, 159 in Santa Cruz, 67 in Graham, 64 in La Paz and six in Greenlee.