(AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin, Archives)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond, on January 9, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Saturday reported 11,094 new cases of coronavirus and 98 additional deaths from COVID-19.
The state’s documented totals rose to 607,345 COVID-19 infections and 10,036 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services panel.
As of Friday, Arizona had the highest rate of coronavirus cases and the second highest death rate per capita nationally in the past seven days, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
Arizona hospitals continued to see record numbers or near records of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.
The number of patients admitted to Arizona’s COVID-19 hospital increased from 11 to 4,918 on Friday, two below the record set the day before and the second highest ever.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds dropped to 1,121, down 1 from the number in use on Thursday.
Suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients across the state occupied 57% of all hospital beds and 62% of all ICU beds.
In general, the hospitalization beds were each 93% occupied, corresponding to the peak of the pandemic, with 92% of the ICU beds in use. Only 138 ICU beds were unused.
Arizona’s weekly positivity percentage for the COVID-19 diagnostic test, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is the highest ever.
So far this week, 25% of the 105,565 people who have been tested have tested positive. The positivity percentage was a record 25% last week.
Official positivity rates are based on when samples are collected, not when they are reported, so the percentage over the past few weeks may fluctuate as laboratories update tests and results are documented by the state.
The seven-day continuous average for coronavirus cases recently notified by the health department was 9,426.29 on Friday, the highest ever and the second consecutive day above 9,000, according to the screening. Associated Press.
The seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths recently reported was 131.86 on Friday, more than six more than the previous day’s record.
Daily state updates show case, death and test data after the state receives the statistics and confirms them, which can take several days or more. They do not represent actual activity in the past 24 hours.
Hospitalization data published every morning is reported electronically the night before by 100 hospitals across the state, as required by the executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has no impact on some people and is severely debilitating or fatal for others. Infected people without symptoms – which include, but are not limited to, cough, fever and difficulty breathing – are able to spread the virus.
The diagnostic test is available at hundreds of locations across Arizona and should be sought out by anyone with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information on locations, times and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
Below are Saturday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic across the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 175 new cases of coronavirus and three more deaths, bringing the documented total to 24,979 infections and 869 deaths.
- Globally, there were about 89 million cases of COVID-19 and 1.91 million deaths on Saturday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US are around 21.87 million cases and 368,947 deaths.