A dose of the new one-time Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will be prepared at a vaccination event at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in South Los Angeles on March 11, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The event was hosted by California and FEMA health officials. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now the third coronavirus vaccine to be approved for emergency use in the United States. (Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for March 12, 2021.
PHOENIX – Public health officials in Arizona reported 1,367 new cases of coronavirus and 55 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Friday.
The state’s documented totals were updated to 831,832 coronavirus infections and 16,519 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 dashboard.
Key statistic data used to measure the extent of the pandemic continues to improve and is the lowest in months, with more than 20% of the Arizona population having received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in state hospitals fell to 879 on Thursday, the lowest number since Oct. 31. The number of IC beds used by COVID-19 patients dropped to 236, the lowest since November 2.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is at a five-month low.
Of the 33,923 people tested so far this week, 5% got a positive result. The rate for 77,971 people last week was 5%, the lowest since early October.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the rate from the past few weeks may fluctuate as labs are testing and the results are documented by the state.
The Arizona Health Department updates current case, death, and testing data daily after the state receives and confirms statistics, which may take several days or more. They do not represent actual activity for the past 24 hours.
The hospital admission data posted each morning is reported electronically by hospitals across the state the night before, 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 for others. Infected people without symptoms – including but not limited to a cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – are able to spread the virus.
Diagnostic tests are available in hundreds of locations around 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.
For details on statewide availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the ADHS website has a vaccine locator page with a map of locations and registration and eligibility information.
Below are Friday’s latest developments regarding the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- Arizona health officials reported Friday that the P1 COVID-19 variant, commonly referred to as the Brazilian variant, has been confirmed in three test samples from the state.
- The Navajo Nation reported 19 new coronavirus cases and three additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 29,930 infections and 1,215 fatalities.
- Arizona Governor Doug Ducey told me KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show that the state can meet President Joe Biden’s goal of expanding the COVID-19 vaccine to all adults by May 1 if supplies are sufficient.
- Thousands of frontline transit personnel serving metro Phoenix will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccination at a private event this weekend.
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 118.7 million COVID-19 cases and 2.63 million deaths on Friday morning worldwide. The figures for the US were about 29.29 million cases and 531,000 deaths.