Volunteers walk like people who have already received in-vehicle vaccinations at a massive drive-through COVID-19 vaccination site in a Six Flags Magic Mountain parking lot on Feb. 2, 2020 in Valencia, California. The site in one of the five major coronavirus vaccine sites operated by Los Angeles County. (Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for February 3, 2021.
PHOENIX – Health officials in Arizona reported 2,296 new cases of coronavirus and 214 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday.
It is the lowest daily case report since December 27 and the third lowest since November. It’s also the first time since November 16-17 with less than 3,000 cases reported on two consecutive days.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 dashboard, the state’s documented totals have risen to 767,379 infections and 13,576 fatalities.
While statistics show that Arizona’s massive surge that began in November is slowing down, the virus remains widespread in the state.
Hospital admissions in COVID-19 are now lower than at the July peak of the state’s first wave, but the number of cases and deaths is still higher.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Arizona fell to 3,456 on Tuesday, the lowest number since Dec. 9. The number of IC beds used by COVID-19 patients has increased by 11 to 955, the second-fewest number since December 21.
Statewide, COVID-19 patients occupied 40% of all hospital beds and 53% of all IC beds Tuesday. Overall, the pre-hospital beds were 90% of the capacity and 91% of the intensive care beds.
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 125,134 people tested last week, 16% received a positive result, the lowest rate since before Thanksgiving and the fourth consecutive weekly decline.
So far this week, the registered positive rate is 14% for 12,158 people tested.
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.
In Tuesday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona fell from first to third in the country in average per capita cases over the past seven days, behind Texas and South Carolina. Arizona fell from third to fourth in dead, behind Alabama, South Carolina and Iowa.
The seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported coronavirus cases was 4,634.29 for Tuesday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the lowest since Dec. 3. The seven-day average of newly reported deaths was tapped for the second time. consecutive day until 130.57.
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 represent actual activity for the past 24 hours.
The hospital admission data posted each morning is electronically reported 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 locations and registration information.
Below are Wednesday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- Maricopa County Public Health said some unused coronavirus vaccines have been discarded, but only to maintain quality and safety.
- Nothing short of a miracle is how a Valley doctor described the recovery of a COVID-19 patient who stayed in the hospital for more than four months.
- With increased demand, the city of Phoenix launched its second COVID-19 mobile test unit.
- President Joe Biden’s administration has announced that it wants to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, release more doses to states, and start distributing them to pharmacies next week.
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 103.98 million COVID-19 cases and 2.26 million deaths on Wednesday morning worldwide. The figures for the US were about 26.44 million cases and 447,000 deaths.