State adds hundreds of older cases to total
Arizona reported 1,302 new COVID-19 cases and seven new known deaths Friday, but almost half the newly reported cases were from several months earlier in the pandemic.
The cases added Friday include about 625 “reclassified cases” from infections throughout the pandemic in three counties, according to health officials. Almost three-quarters of those were from people who tested positive during the fall and winter surge (November through February), and all 625 were from before March, the state health department said.
“These cases represent reports where it was unclear what type of testing was performed and thus could not be confidently included in earlier case counts,” state health director Dr. Cara Christ wrote in a blog post. “More information is now available for these reports, and we can update case numbers to provide a more accurate picture of the trends in the pandemic.”
Arizona’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people ranked 46th Thursday 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 states with a lower case rate over the past seven days were Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, Hawaii, California, Alabama and Arkansas. Arizona ranked 51st among 60 states and territories on March 28, but its rank has crept up.
The state’s seven-day average for new reported COVID-19 cases rose to 724 on Friday given the new case additions. It was 673 on Thursday, compared with 601 last Thursday, per state data. The average had reached as high as 9,800 in January.
Arizona’s newly reported seven deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 17,062.
A total of 848,202 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state.
The Arizona data dashboard shows 85% of all ICU beds and 89% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use
Thursday, with 9% of ICU beds and 7% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 264 ICU beds and 974 non-ICU beds were available.
Reported cases in Arizona: 848,202.
Cases since the outbreak began increased by 1,302, or 0.15%, from Thursday’s 846,900 identified cases. These daily cases are grouped by the date they are reported to the state health department, not by the date the tests were administered.
Cases by county: 527,566 in Maricopa, 113,463 in Pima, 50,155 in Pinal, 36,901 in Yuma, 22,295 in Mohave, 18,408 in Yavapai, 17,267 in Coconino, 15,977 in Navajo, 11,715 in Cochise, 11,221 in Apache, 7,857 in Santa Cruz, 6,846 in Gila, 5,515 in Graham, 2,449 in La Paz and 567 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.
The roughly 625 newly reported cases mostly from November through February came from three counties: 270 from Gila County, 142 from Graham County and 213 from Navajo County, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The Navajo Nation reported 30,213 cases and 1,260 confirmed deaths in total as of Thursday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 12,254 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, including 2,240 in Tucson, 2,025 in Eyman, 2,010 in Yuma, 1,303 in Lewis and 1,163 in Douglas; 43,654 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,742 prison staff members have self-reported testing positive, the department said. Forty-three incarcerated people in Arizona have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with 10 additional deaths under investigation.
Deaths by county: 9,716 in Maricopa, 2,367 in Pima, 859 in Pinal, 824 in Yuma, 692 in Mohave, 521 in Navajo, 491 in Yavapai, 421 in Apache, 329 in Coconino, 281 in Cochise, 223 in Gila, 173 in Santa Cruz, 78 in La Paz, 77 in Graham and 10 in Greenlee.