(AP Photo / Wilfredo Lee)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for January 31, 2021.
PHOENIX – Health officials in Arizona reported 5,025 new cases of coronavirus and 22 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 dashboard, the state’s documented totals have risen to 758,404 infections and 13,120 fatalities.
As of Saturday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona continued to lead the country in average cases per capita for the past seven days, slipping behind Alabama to No. 2 in deaths.
Key statistics indicate that the boom in Arizona that began in November has passed its peak, in line with national trends, but the virus remains widespread in the state.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Arizona fell to 3,664 on Saturday, the lowest number since Dec. 13. The number of IC beds used by COVID-19 patients fell to 979, the lowest since Christmas Day.
Statewide, COVID-19 patients occupied 42% of all hospital beds and 54% of all IC beds on Saturday. Overall, the patient’s beds were 90% full and the beds in the ICU were 91% of the capacity.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is declining but remains at a significant level.
Of the 97,009 people tested so far this week, 16% received a positive result, which would be the fourth consecutive weekly drop. For 154,860 people tested last week, the positive rate is 19%.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the rate for the past few weeks may fluctuate as labs are testing and the results are documented by the state.
The seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported coronavirus cases was 5,431.71 for Saturday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the second lowest on Dec. 5. The seven-day mean of newly reported COVID-19 deaths dropped to 132.57.
The state updates current case, death, and test data daily after the state receives and confirms statistics, which can delay several days or more. They do not reflect actual activity for the past 24 hours.
The hospital admission data posted each morning is reported electronically the night before by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, does not affect some people and is severely disabling or fatal to others. Infected people without symptoms – including but not limited to a cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – can spread the virus.
Diagnostic tests are available at hundreds of locations in Arizona and should be sought by anyone with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information on locations, schedules, and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
The department also has a vaccine finder page with a map of active and pending locations and registration information.
Below are Saturday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 102.67 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and 2.22 million deaths on Saturday morning. The figures for the US were about 26.07 million cases and 439,536 deaths.