COVID-19 deaths reach 5 in Yuma County, cases up to 443

Officials add state corrections numbers to daily case count

The number of COVID-related deaths in Yuma County increased on Monday from four to five, officials said.

Yuma County Spokesperson Kevin Tunell said that three of the five deaths are people ages 65 and over. One of the deaths is an individual between the ages of 55 and 65, while the remaining death was a pediatric patient, the first such death in the state of Arizona, which was announced on May 7.

There were 37 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Yuma County Monday, plus an additional 30 cases reported at Arizona Department of Corrections facilities located in Yuma County, for a total of 67 new cases. That brings the total number of reported cases in Yuma County to 443.

The Arizona Department of Corrections numbers had previously not been included in the county’s daily report, because “although these individuals are not in the community, they ‘reside’ in a Yuma County zip code. The Arizona Dept. of Health is counting these types of cases as Yuma County cases going forward,” the county’s situational report noted.

Tunell said the county doesn’t know how much testing correctional facilities in the county are doing, but the county does have the number of positive cases.

Currently, 4,991 Yuma County residents have been tested, and as of 8 a.m. Monday, 20 residents were hospitalized, the county reports.

The county releases information about the number of cases, deaths and the demographics of the cases through the daily updates found at the county’s website, www.YumaCountyAz.gov.