Arizona reports 1,621 new COVID cases, 83 deaths
Arizona reported 1,621 new COVID-19 cases and 83 new known deaths on Friday as hospitalizations for the disease have fallen to a level the state has not seen since early November.
The state’s COVID-19 death rate is among the worst in the country.
The COVID-19 death rate in Arizona since the pandemic began was 215 per 100,000 people as of Thursday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, putting it sixth in the country in a state ranking that separates New York City from New York state. The U.S. average was 151 deaths per 100,000 people as of Thursday, the CDC said.
New York City had the highest death rate, at 346 deaths per 100,000 people. After that followed New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Mississippi.
Arizona’s average new daily case number over the last seven days ranked 16th Thursday among all states, after ranking first and second for much of January, according to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker.
Arizona’s newly reported 83 deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 15,897. The state surpassed 15,000 deaths on Feb. 17 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 slightly more than one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 814,528 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state.
The Arizona data dashboard shows 86% of all ICU beds and 89% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Friday, with 24% of ICU beds and 16% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 247 ICU beds and 964 non-ICU beds were available.
The total number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 1,354 on Thursday down from Wednesday’s 1,385 inpatients and 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 419 on Thursday, up from 415 on Wednesday and well below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11.
Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 225 on Thursday, down from 241 on Wednesday and well below the record high 821 reached on Jan. 13.
Thursday saw 1,190 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.
Friday’s numbers
Reported cases in Arizona: 814,528. Cases since the outbreak began increased by 1,621, or 0.2%, from Thursday’s 812,907 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: 508,997 in Maricopa, 109,937 in Pima, 46,003 in Pinal, 36,392 in Yuma, 21,110 in Mohave, 17,009 in Yavapai, 16,485 in Coconino, 15,555 in Navajo, 11,145 in Cochise, 10,441 in Apache, 7,626 in Santa Cruz, 6,392 in Gila, 5,286 in Graham, 2,392 in La Paz and 558 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.
The Navajo Nation reported 29,655 cases and 1,161 confirmed deaths in total as of Thursday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Tribal leaders halted weekend lockdowns after Jan. 25, although a stay-at-home order and nightly curfew remained in effect.
The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 11,955 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Thursday, including 2,239 in Tucson, 2,006 in Yuma, 2,001 in Eyman, 1,307 in Lewis and 1,158 in Douglas; 43,613 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,678 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, with 18 additional deaths under investigation.
Deaths by county: 9,061 in Maricopa, 2,212 in Pima, 783 in Yuma, 764 in Pinal, 642 in Mohave, 489 in Navajo, 458 in Yavapai, 381 in Apache, 309 in Coconino, 265 in Cochise, 213 in Gila, 167 in Santa Cruz, 72 in Graham, 71 in La Paz and 10 in Greenlee.