(Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond on February 2, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Tuesday reported 2,938 new cases of coronavirus and 238 additional deaths from COVID-19.
It was the first daily report with less than 3,000 new cases since December 29, but the largest death report since January 21.
The state’s documented totals rose to 765,083 infections and 13,362 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 panel.
While key metrics indicate that the huge Arizona wave that started in November is subsiding, the virus remains widespread across the state.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Arizona dropped to 3,513 on Monday, the lowest since December 10. The number of ICU beds used by patients with COVID-19 has decreased to 944, the lowest since December 21.
Across the state, patients with COVID-19 occupied 40% of all hospital beds and 52% of all ICU beds on Monday. In general, hospitalization beds were at 90% of capacity and ICU beds at 88%.
Arizona’s weekly positivity percentage for the COVID-19 diagnostic test, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has declined, but remains at a substantial level.
Of the 119,808 people tested last week, 16% received a positive result, the lowest rate since before Thanksgiving Day and the fourth consecutive weekly drop.
Official positivity rates are based on when samples are taken, 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.
Since Monday’s update of the US Centers for Disease Control, Arizona has continued to lead the country in average cases per capita in the past seven days and has dropped to 3rd place in deaths behind Alabama and Iowa.
The seven-day average for new coronavirus cases reported by the state health department was 4,892.86 on Monday, according to the Associated Press tracking, the lowest mark since December 4. The seven-day average of recently reported deaths, which tended to fall last week, was 126.43, the second lowest since January 7.
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.
The department also has a vaccine location page with an asset map with a location map and registration information.
Below are the latest developments on Tuesday about the coronavirus pandemic across the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 82 new cases of coronavirus and 12 additional deaths to bring the documented total to 28,471 infections and 1,032 deaths.
- Nearly 60% of Arizona’s supply of COVID-19 vaccine has been administered, the state health department said, a big leap from the previous week.
- Globally, there were about 103.5 million cases of COVID-19 and 2.24 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US are around 26.32 million cases and 443,000 deaths.