Arizona reports 1,926 new coronavirus cases, 56 more deaths

Jul 22, 2020, 8:24 AM | Updated: 8:30 pm

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information, news and updates about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Wednesday, July 22.

PHOENIX – The Arizona health department reported 1,926 new coronavirus cases and 56 additional deaths on Wednesday morning.

That brought the state’s totals to 150,609 COVID-19 cases and 2,974 fatalities.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has been providing case and testing updates on its website each morning. The dashboard includes, among other information, testing trends, updated hospital capacity and a ZIP code map of cases.

The daily reports present data after the state receives statistics and confirms them, which can lag by several days. They don’t represent the actual activity over the past 24 hours.

The rate of new Arizona coronavirus cases has shown signs of slowing in recent weeks following the implementation of face mask requirements in many areas — including all of Maricopa County — and statewide executive orders to close businesses such as bars and gyms and to restrict restaurant occupancy.

Those moves were made after the state became a global hot spot for the coronavirus, which has no impact on some people and is seriously debilitating or fatal for others. Infected people without symptoms – which include but are not limited to cough, fever and difficulty breathing — are capable of spreading the virus.

According to the Associated Press, the seven-day average for newly reported cases fell below 3,000 on Tuesday for the first time since June 29.

Arizona’s weekly positive rate for diagnostic PCR tests, which indicates how much the virus is spreading, is on pace to fall for the third consecutive week.

The weekly positive rate had increased from 5% in early May to a peak of 21% in late June/early July.

For the 1,909 tests given and processed this week, the positive rate is 15%.

Weekly rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the percentage for recent weeks can fluctuate as labs get caught up on testing.

However, Arizona’s hospitals reported a day-to-day increase of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients Tuesday for the first time since July 16.

The number of Arizona’s COVID-19 inpatients rose by 53 overnight to 3,094, and the number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds went up by five to 870.

In other notable hospital data from Tuesday related to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients:

430 were discharged, 85 more than the previous day.
1,369 were seen in emergency departments, 126 more than the previous day and the first day-to-day increase since July 14.
609 were on ventilators, one more than the previous day. (More than half of the state’s ventilator supply remained unused.)
87 intubations for respiratory distress were performed, 14 more than the previous day but still the second fewest since July 2.

After reaching their lowest points in weeks on Monday, Arizona’s overall inpatient and ICU occupancy rates ticked back up Tuesday.

Inpatient beds were 84% full Tuesday, 1 percentage point higher than the previous day, when the rate fell to its lowest point since July 6.

ICU beds were 86% full, 1 percentage point higher than the previous day, when the rate fell to its lowest point since June 22.

The inpatient occupancy rate peaked July 9 and 10 at 88%, and the ICU occupancy rate topped out at 91% on July 7.

Hospital bed data on the health department website does not include surge beds that have not been activated but can potentially increase capacity.

Below are Wednesday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez reported an additional 45 COVID-19 cases and six more virus-related deaths among the Navajo Nation.
A top researcher at Arizona State University said the coronavirus curve has plateaued in Arizona, but added the state must stay the course policy-wise to make progress against the health pandemic.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey sent the state’s congressional delegation a letter recommending what should be included in the upcoming federal COVID-19 relief package.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman said as much she wanted students back in the classroom, schools should be able to decide when to reopen based on public health data on the coronavirus outbreak.
Maricopa County inspectors are conducting some building inspections remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Republicans and the White House reached tentative agreement for more testing funds in the next COVID-19 relief package, but deep disagreements over the scope of the $1 trillion in federal aid have forced a shift in strategy.
Buckeye Valley Fire District told KTAR News 92.3 FM that it has not received any federal finical assistance connected to the federal coronavirus relief bill.
Cases of a rare and potentially life-threatening condition that children are getting after being exposed to COVID-19 are now being reported in Arizona.
There were nearly 15 million coronavirus cases and more than 617,000 deaths reported globally as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. For the U.S., there were more than 3.9 million cases and 142,000 deaths.