People wearing masks wait to receive a coronavirus vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination center in Jerusalem, Monday, January 4, 2021. (AP Photo / Oded Balilty)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond on January 5, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 253 new coronavirus deaths, a record number, and 5,932 additional cases on Tuesday.
The Arizona Department of Health Services said 215 of the deaths were the result of the process of comparing death certificates, but did not say their age. Only three deaths in total were reported on Sunday and Monday.
The previous high for reported deaths in one day was 172 on July 30.
The state’s documented totals rose to 567,474 COVID-19 infections and 9,317 deaths, according to the department’s health panel.
As of Monday, Arizona had the highest rate of cases per capita in the past seven days and the seventh highest rate of mortality per capita, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
Meanwhile, state hospitals continued to see record numbers of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.
The number of patients admitted to Arizona’s COVID-19 hospital rose to 4,789 on Monday, surpassing the previous day’s record by 142.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds increased to 1,096 on Monday, breaking the previous day’s record at 14.
Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 across the state occupied 56% of all hospital beds and 62% of all ICU beds, both records.
In general, inpatient beds and ICU beds were 92% occupied.
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. Of the 149,961 people who took the test last week, 25% received a positive result. This is 4 percentage points above the previous record.
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.
The seven-day moving average for coronavirus cases recently reported by the health department was 8,159.86 on Monday, below the record level of the previous day, but still the second highest ever, according to a Associated Press.
The seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths recently reported was 85 on Monday, down from the previous day.
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 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 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 the latest developments on Tuesday about the coronavirus pandemic across the state, country and world:
- Arizona would not currently be the nation’s worst COVID-19 hotspot if state officials were doing a better job of enforcing mitigation rules, said public health expert Dr. Will Humble The Mike Broomhead KTAR News 92.3 FM Show.
- The Arizona Department of Health Services announced that 101,030 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the state, and a second county has moved to Phase 1B distribution. Gila joined Pinal in the second phase, which includes childcare and education workers, protection service occupations, adults aged 75 and over, critical service workers and industry critics and adults with high-risk conditions in congregated environments .
- Governor Doug Ducey announced $ 2 million in additional funding for Arizona restaurants to continue expanding the space for outdoor dining amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Globally, there were about 85.84 million cases of COVID-19 and 1.86 million deaths on Tuesday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US are around 20.83 million cases and 353,000 deaths.