Arizona reported a relative decline of 1,507 new COVID-19 cases and no new known deaths on Monday, as hospitalizations from the disease approach six weeks of declining numbers.
Arizona’s seven-day average of new cases on Sunday was 18th among all states, after ranking first and second for much of January, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID data tracker. United States Disease Control and Prevention.
The statewide rate of new positive cases in the past seven days was 21.3 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. New York City was the first, with 50.3 cases per 100,000. The US average of new cases was 19.9 cases per 100,000 people.
The state’s daily average of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people in the past seven days was the sixth in the nation as of Sunday, according to the CDC.
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The known death count from COVID-19 in Arizona was 15,502 on Monday, three deaths below Sunday’s count due to matching death certificates. Usually there are few new deaths on Mondays.
The state surpassed 15,000 deaths on February 17, after having surpassed 14,000 deaths on February 6 and 13,000 deaths on January 29.
Many of the deaths occurred days or weeks earlier, due to delays in reporting and overlapping death certificates.
In just over a year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 809,474 COVID-19 cases have been identified statewide. Relatively fewer cases have been registered in February.
The Arizona dashboard shows that 85% of all ICU beds and 87% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use on Sunday, with 27% of ICU beds and 19% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, there were 259 ICU beds and 1,119 non-ICU beds.
Hospitalizations for the disease have been declining for about six weeks, but remain at relatively high levels.
The number of hospitalized patients in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was 1,590 on Sunday, similar to the 1,598 hospitalized patients on Saturday and well below the record of 5,082 hospitalized patients on January 11. By comparison, the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.
The number of patients with suspected or known COVID-19 in ICUs in Arizona was 478 on Sunday, down from 501 on Saturday and the record of 1,183 on January 11. During the summer surge in mid-July, ICU beds in use for COVID-19 peaked at 970.
Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on respirators totaled 299 on Sunday, slightly more than the 286 on Saturday and well below the record of 821 reached on January 13. During the summer surge, July 16 was the busiest day for respirators, with 687 patients.
1,117 patients were registered in the emergency room for COVID-19 on Sunday, down from the December 29 record of 2,341 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients seen in emergency departments across the state.
The percentage of positivity, which refers to the percentage of COVID-19 diagnostic tests that are positive, has been decreasing but remains above the ideal.
Last week, Arizona’s percent positivity stood at 9% for the second week in a row, according to the state, which has a unique way of calculating percent positivity. The percentage of positivity was between 4% and 6% for much of August, September and October, according to state data.
Johns Hopkins University calculates Arizona’s seven-day moving average of positivity at 5% as of Monday. It shows that the state’s percentage of positivity peaked at 24.2% in December.
A positivity rate of 5% or less is considered a good reference that the spread of the disease is under control.
Arizona began its first COVID-19 vaccinations for Phase 1A the week of December 14, but the process has progressed slowly due to a limited supply of vaccines. Enrollment is open in counties for priority or all Phase 1B individuals and in most locations for those 65 and older. Gov. Doug Ducey said the vaccine will be free to anyone.
More than 1 million people across the state had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Monday, with about 398,900 people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with two doses, state data shows.
Translation: Javier Arce