Arizona reports 605 new COVID-19 cases, 44 deaths

Arizona reported 605 new COVID19 cases and 44 new known deaths Wednesday, marking 12 straight days of case reports under 750 and about 10 weeks of generally declining hospitalizations for the disease.

The state’s seven-day average for new reported COVID-19 cases was 481 on Tuesday, per state data. It reached as high as 9,800 in January.

Arizona’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people ranked 52nd Tuesday among all states and territories, after ranking first and second for much of January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker. The only states with a lower case rate over the last seven days were Oregon and Hawaii.

The state’s seven-day death rate per 100,000 people ranked 11th in the nation as of Tuesday, per the CDC.

Percent positivity, which refers to the percent of COVID-19 diagnostic tests that are positive, has been declining but varies somewhat based on how it’s measured.

Last week, Arizona’s percent positivity was 5% for the third week in a row and 7% the week before that, according to the state, which has a unique way of calculating percent positivity. Weekly percent positivity statewide peaked at 25% in December.

Johns Hopkins University calculates Arizona’s seven-day moving average of percent positives at 1.8% as of Wednesday. It shows the state’s percent positivity peaked at 24.2% in December.

The state’s overall COVID-19 death and case rates since Jan. 21, 2020, remain among the worst in the country.

The COVID-19 death rate in Arizona since the pandemic began is 230 deaths per 100,000 people as of Tuesday, according to the CDC, putting it sixth in the country in a state ranking that separates New York City from New York state.

Arizona’s newly reported 44 deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 16,842.

A total of 837,849 cases have been identified across the state. February and March have seen relatively lower case reports. Fifteen of the last 17 days’ reported cases have been under 1,000.

The Arizona data dashboard shows 84% of all ICU beds and 88% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Tuesday, with 9% of ICU beds and 8% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 269 ICU beds and 1,049 non-ICU beds were available.

The total number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was 653 on Tuesday, far 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 162 on Tuesday, down from 175 on Monday, and far below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11.

Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 77 on Tuesday, slightly below Monday’s count of 79 and well below the record high 821 reached on Jan. 13.

Tuesday saw 1,109 patients in the emergency room for COVID-19, well below the Dec. 29 single-day record of 2,341 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients seen in emergency departments across the state.

Arizona began its first COVID-19 vaccinations for Phase 1A the week of Dec. 14. The state again changed its vaccine rollout plan Monday to allow everyone 16 and older to start registering for appointments at state-operated sites, pharmacies and federally qualified health centers starting Wednesday. Counties can still sub-prioritize age groups and frontline essential workers at county sites.

Close to 1.9 million people statewide had received at least one vaccine dose as of Wednesday, with more than 1.1 million people fully vaccinated with two doses, state data show. Arizona has about 5.6 million adults age 18 and older.

More numbers of note

Cases by county: 522,323 in Maricopa, 111,998 in Pima, 49,004 in Pinal, 36,680 in Yuma, 21,989 in Mohave, 18,309 in Yavapai, 16,972 in Coconino, 15,613 in Navajo, 11,557 in Cochise, 10,774 in Apache, 7,770 in Santa Cruz, 6,499 in Gila, 5,504 in Graham, 2,438 in La Paz and 563 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The rate of cases per 100,000 people since the pandemic began is highest in Yuma County, followed by Apache, Santa Cruz, Graham and Navajo counties, per state data. The rate in Yuma County is 15,951 cases per 100,000 people.

Deaths by county: 9,601 in Maricopa, 2,338 in Pima, 841 in Pinal, 816 in Yuma, 677 in Mohave, 519 in Navajo, 489 in Yavapai, 408 in Apache, 324 in Coconino, 277 in Cochise, 219 in Gila, 173 in Santa Cruz, 76 in Graham, 74 in La Paz and 10 in Greenlee.