A dose of the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 one-shot vaccine is 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 organized by California health officials and FEMA. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now the third coronavirus vaccine to receive emergency approval for use in the United States. (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, on March 12, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona public health officials on Friday reported 1,367 new cases of coronavirus and 55 additional deaths from COVID-19.
The state’s documented totals have been updated to 831,832 coronavirus infections and 16,519 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 panel.
The main state metrics used to measure the extent of the pandemic continue to improve and are the lowest in months, and more than 20% of the Arizona population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The number of confirmed or suspected inpatients with COVID-19 in state hospitals dropped to 879 on Thursday, the lowest since October 31. The number of ICU beds used by patients with COVID-19 has dropped to 236, the lowest since November 2.
Arizona’s weekly positivity percentage for the COVID-19 diagnostic test, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is at least five months away.
Of the 33,923 people tested so far this week, 5% have received a positive result. The rate for 77,971 people last week was 5%, the lowest since the beginning of October.
Official positivity rates are based on when samples are collected, not when they are reported, so the percentage of the past few weeks may fluctuate as laboratories update tests and results are documented by the state.
Daily updates from the Arizona Department of Health present data on cases, deaths and tests 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 hospitals across the state, as required by 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 with no symptoms – which include, but are not limited to cough, fever and difficulty breathing – are able to spread the virus.
The diagnostic test is available in 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.
For details on the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine across the state, the ADHS website has a vaccine location page with a location map and registration and eligibility information.
Below are Friday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic across the state, country and world:
- Arizona health officials reported on Friday that the P1 COVID-19 variant, commonly referred to as the Brazilian variant, was confirmed in three state test samples.
- The Navajo Nation reported 19 new cases of coronavirus and three additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 29,930 infections and 1,215 deaths.
- Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said The Mike Broomhead Show by KTAR News 92.3 FM that the state can meet President Joe Biden’s goal of extending the eligibility of the COVID-19 vaccine to all adults by May 1, if the supply is sufficient.
- Thousands of frontline traffic workers serving the Phoenix metropolitan area will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a private event this weekend.
- Globally, there were about 118.7 million cases of COVID-19 and 2.63 million deaths on Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the US are around 29.29 million cases and 531,000 deaths.