COVID hospitalizations in Ariz. continue to fall

Arizona reported more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases and 59 new known deaths on Saturday as hospitalizations for the disease dropped slightly, continuing more than five weeks of declining hospital numbers.

Arizona’s seven-day new-case average ranked 18th on Friday 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 average daily COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people over the past seven days ranked fourth in the nation as of Friday, per the CDC.

Arizona’s newly reported 59 deaths brought the state’s known COVID-19 death count to 15,480. The state surpassed 15,000 deaths on Wednesday after passing 14,000 deaths on Feb. 6 and 13,000 deaths on Jan. 29, 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.

In just over one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 806,163 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state.

The Arizona data dashboard shows 86% of all ICU beds and 88% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Monday, with 39% of ICU beds and 19% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 247 ICU beds and 1,039 non-ICU beds were available.

The number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 1,650 on Friday, down from 1,738 on Thursday and 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 517 on Friday, down from 563 on Thursday and below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11. Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 330 on Friday, down from 334 on Thursday and below the record high 821 reached on Jan. 13.

Friday saw 1,278 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.

Saturday’s numbers

Reported cases in Arizona: 806,163. Cases since the outbreak began increased by 2,047, or 0.25%, from Friday’s 804,116 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: 503,686 in Maricopa, 108,094 in Pima, 45,434 in Pinal, 36,252 in Yuma, 20,812 in Mohave, 16,869 in Yavapai, 16,209 in Coconino, 15,448 in Navajo, 10,980 in Cochise, 10,244 in Apache, 7,609 in Santa Cruz, 6,342 in Gila, 5,251 in Graham, 2,379 in La Paz and 551 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The Navajo Nation reported 29,464 cases and 1,138 confirmed deaths in total as of Friday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 11,895 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, including 2,236 in Tucson, 2,005 in Yuma, 1,974 in Eyman, 1,307 in Lewis and 1,155 in Douglas; 43,595 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,649 prison staff members have self-reported testing positive, the department said. Thirty-five incarcerated people in Arizona have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19.

Arizona as of Friday had the sixthhighest overall case rate in the country since Jan. 21, 2020. Ahead of Arizona in cases per 100,000 people since the pandemic began are North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Utah and Tennessee, according to the CDC.

Deaths by county: 8,816 in Maricopa, 2,146 in Pima, 770 in Yuma, 742 in Pinal, 625 in Mohave, 478 in Navajo, 448 in Yavapai, 365 in Apache, 306 in Coconino, 260 in Cochise, 209 in Gila, 167 in Santa Cruz, 71 in Graham, 69 in La Paz and eight in Greenlee.

The global death toll as of Saturday morning was 2,454,343, and the U.S. had the highest death count of any country in the world, at 495,816, according to Johns Hopkins University. Arizona’s death total of 15,480 deaths represents 3.1% of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. as of Saturday.

Reach the reporter at bfrank@arizo narepublic.com or 602-444-8529.