Arizona approaches 13K known COVID-19 deaths
Arizona reported more than 4,600 new COVID-19 cases and 176 new known deaths on Thursday as hospitalizations for the disease continued gradual declines but the state ranked first nationwide for its weekly COVID-19 case and death rates.
In about one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 743,232 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state. As of Thursday, 12,819 Arizonans are known to have died from the disease, according to the data dashboard from the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Arizona’s seven-day, new-case average ranked first among all states on Wednesday, 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 92.1 cases per 100,000 people, per the CDC. The U.S. average for new cases was 50.2 cases per 100,000 people.
Arizona on Friday surpassed 12,000 known deaths from the virus, just one week after it passed 11,000, which came six days after the state reported 10,000 deaths. Arizona’s first known death from the disease occurred in midMarch.
The Arizona data dashboard shows 91% of all ICU beds and 91% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Wednesday, with 57% of ICU beds and 47% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 155 ICU beds and 746 non-ICU beds were available.
The number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 4,087 on Wednesday, 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 1,023 on Wednesday, below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11.
Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 692 on Wednesday, below the recordhigh 821 reached on Jan. 13.
Wednesday saw 1,829 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.
Thursday’s numbers
Reported cases in Arizona: 743,232. Cases since the outbreak began increased by 4,671, or 0.63%, from Wednesday’s 738,561 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: 462,580 in Maricopa, 99,441 in Pima, 41,829 in Pinal, 34,762 in Yuma, 18,741 in Mohave, 16,025 in Yavapai, 14,998 in Coconino, 14,178 in Navajo, 10,324 in Cochise, 9,472 in Apache, 7,383 in Santa Cruz, 5,900 in Gila, 4,872 in Graham, 2,211 in La Paz and 516 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.
The Navajo Nation reported 27,887 cases and 989 confirmed deaths in total as of Wednesday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 9,704 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, including 1,907 in Tucson, 1,852 in Yuma, 1,580 in Eyman and 1,127 in Douglas; 43,455 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,444 prison staff members have self-reported testing positive, the department said. Thirtyone incarcerated people in Arizona have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with 17 additional deaths under investigation.
Arizona’s infection rate is 10,066 cases per 100,000 people, the CDC said.
The national average is 7,621 cases per 100,000 people, though the rates in states hard hit early on in the pandemic may be an undercount because of a lack of available testing in March and April.
Deaths by county: 7,271 in Maricopa, 1,706 in Pima, 691 in Yuma, 590 in Pinal, 514 in Mohave, 425 in Navajo, 371 in Yavapai, 307 in Apache, 270 in Coconino, 220 in Cochise, 183 in Gila, 144 in Santa Cruz, 65 in Graham, 56 in La Paz and six in Greenlee.