Arizona adds 1,735 cases of COVID-19

State reports 54 deaths as hospitalizations drop

Arizona reported 1,735 new COVID-19 cases and 54 new known deaths on Saturday as hospitalizations for the disease continued to drop.

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

The COVID-19 death rate in Arizona since the pandemic began was 222 deaths per 100,000 people as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker, putting it sixth in the country in a state ranking that separates New York City from New York state.

The state’s case rate since the pandemic began also ranked sixth nationwide as of Friday.

Arizona’s newly reported 54 deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 16,323. The state surpassed 16,000 deaths on Tuesday after passing 15,000 deaths on Feb. 17, 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.

In slightly more than one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 825,119 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state.

February and March have seen relatively lower case reports, although Friday’s report marked the highest number of new cases added in one day since Feb. 12.

The Arizona data dashboard shows 85% of all ICU beds and 89% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Wednesday, with 16% of ICU beds and 11% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 263 ICU beds and 952 non-ICU beds were available.

The total number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 966 on Friday, down from Thursday’s 1,043 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 280 on Friday, down from 325 on Thursday, and far below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11.

Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 140 on Friday, down from 154 on Thursday and well below the record high 821 reached on Jan. 13.

Friday saw 901 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.

Saturday’s numbers

Reported cases in Arizona: 825,119 Cases since the outbreak began increased by 1,735, or 0.21%, from Friday’s 823,384 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: 515,211 in Maricopa, 110,345 in Pima, 46,848 in Pinal, 36,551 in Yuma, 21,375 in Mohave, 17,956 in Yavapai, 16,728 in Coconino, 15,740 in Navajo, 11,310 in Cochise, 10,655 in Apache, 7,652 in Santa Cruz, 6,418 in Gila, 5,317 in Graham, 2,453 in La Paz and 560 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The Navajo Nation reported 29,838 cases and 1,195 confirmed deaths in total as of Thursday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 12,033 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, including 2,240 in Tucson, 2,009 in Eyman, 2,008 in Yuma, 1,302 in Lewis and 1,163 in Douglas; 43,621 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,699 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 19 additional deaths under investigation.

Deaths by county: 9,314 in Maricopa, 2,261 in Pima, 799 in Yuma, 792 in Pinal, 655 in Mohave, 505 in Navajo, 473 in Yavapai, 394 in Apache, 315 in Coconino, 270 in Cochise, 218 in Gila, 170 in Santa Cruz, 75 in Graham, 72 in La Paz and 10 in Greenlee.