Dr. Jule Teufel is at the bar to place a throat and nose swab sample in a plastic bottle with a solution for a quick COVID-19 antigen test for a young woman who had just left a test station in the district of Kreuzberg at the Die Lilie café and bar, which is temporarily closed during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, on January 29, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond, on January 29, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Friday reported 5,028 new cases of coronavirus and 203 additional deaths from COVID-19.
The state’s documented totals reached 748,260 infections and 13,022 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 panel.
In Thursday’s update of the US Centers for Disease Control, Arizona continued to lead the country in average cases per capita for the past seven days and fell behind Alabama to second place in deaths.
Important metrics indicate that the massive increase in Arizona, which began in November, has now passed its peak, reflecting national trends, but the virus remains widespread throughout the state.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in Arizona fell to 3,970 on Thursday, the lowest since December 20. The number of ICU beds used by patients with COVID-19 has dropped to 1,002, the lowest since December 26.
Across the state, patients with COVID-19 occupied 46% of all hospital beds and 56% of all ICU beds on Thursday. Overall, hospital beds and ICU beds had 91% of capacity each.
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 49,788 people tested so far this week, 18% received a positive result, which would be the fourth consecutive weekly drop. For 154,860 people tested last week, the positive rate is 19%.
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.
The seven-day average for newly reported coronavirus cases from the state health department was 6,184.29 on Thursday, according to the Associated Press tracking, the second lowest mark on December 31. The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths decreased to 149.57.
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 a map of active and pending locations and registration information.
Below are Friday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic across the state, country and world:
- Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against COVID-19 with just one injection – not as strong as some rivals for two doses, but still potentially useful.
- Doctors in Arizona are using monoclonal antibody therapy, a new COVID-19 treatment that aims to help prevent those most at risk from being hospitalized.
- Globally, there were about 101.58 million COVID-19 cases and 2.19 million deaths on Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the US are about 25.77 million cases and 433,000 deaths.