Arizona adds 13,410 new cases, 62 deaths

Reported COVID-19 cases in Arizona rose again last week and the percentage of tests returning positive for the virus climbed to nearly one in four, according to the state’s latest weekly update.

Health officials on Wednesday added 13,410 new COVID-19 cases and 62 new known deaths over the weeklong period ending Nov. 19, well above the case additions from recent weeks. That’s the highest weekly case report since early August.

Case counts are still far below last winter, state data shows. Case numbers in recent months likely are not showing the full picture of infections as many more people have used at-home test kits and may not report positive results to their doctors or county health departments.

Some epidemiologists are predicting another wave of infections this fall and winter. Omicron subvariants that are fueling a rising number of COVID-19 cases in Europe and western Asia have been detected in Arizona, setting the stage for another bump in cases here.

Public health officials and medical providers say the best way for Arizonans to avoid serious illness from the emerging strains is to get the updated COVID-19 booster if eligible. The new bivalent booster is updated with protections against subvariants of the omicron variant and it’s available to people ages 5 and older.

Ten of Arizona’s 15 counties, including Maricopa, were designated as “medium” in terms of COVID-19 levels, according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Nov. 17. Navajo and Gila counties were “high,” meaning the CDC recommends people wear face masks indoors in public, and Pima, Santa Cruz and Graham counties were “low.”

The CDC’s “community level” guidance metrics are based on a county’s COVID-19 hospital bed use, COVID-19 hospital admissions and case rates for the virus over the past week.

Reported cases since the pandemic began are at over 2.3 million. Known deaths in Arizona are over 31,700.

Wednesday marked the 39th of the weekly updates to the state’s data dashboard, instead of daily updates that Arizonans became accustomed to following for the latest data on infections, illnesses and deaths.

The previous week’s update added 10,775 COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths, compared with 7,360 COVID-19 cases and 40 deaths three weeks ago and 5,129 COVID-19 cases and 25 deaths four weeks ago.

This week’s update shows the differences between data reported for the week of Nov. 13-19 and Nov. 6-12.

Health officials say weekly updates match how public health monitors trends and other disease reporting.

Case numbers generally were relatively lower in the past couple of months, and public health experts estimate cases of the highly contagious omicron variant peaked in Arizona around mid-January.

The state data dashboard no longer shows key hospitalization information since Gov. Doug Ducey ended the COVID-19 emergency declaration March 30. State health officials said hospitals are no longer required to report some COVID-19 surveillance data to the state, meaning certain graphs showing weekly hospitalization levels for the disease and bed usage by COVID-19 patients are no longer updated.

At the time that data reporting stopped, hospitalizations for the disease had dropped steadily since late January.

The CDC still reports state hospitalization data for Arizona and showed a 22.8% increase in the seven-day average of COVID-19 hospital admissions during Nov. 14-20 compared with Nov. 713. Hospital admissions last week were down 78.8% from the peak seven-day average in early January 2021.

The number of known deaths in the state was at 31,709 as of Wednesday, after passing 30,000 known deaths in the May 4 update. The state surpassed 25,000 deaths on Jan. 13. Deaths are reported with a four-week lag.

The CDC places Arizona’s overall pandemic death rate since early 2020 as the third-highest nationwide.