Arizona reports 1,132 new COVID-19 cases, 3 more deaths Tuesday

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Feb. 16, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Tuesday reported 1,132 new coronavirus cases, the fewest in a day since November, and three additional deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s documented totals moved to 799,740 infections and 14,981 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

COVID-19 hospitalizations and daily case averages have been steadily falling for the last month, but the death pace remains higher than it was during Arizona’s summer wave.

The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients fell to 2,047 on Monday, the fewest since Nov. 22. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients declined to 601, the fewest since Nov. 30.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has declined every week since the start of 2021.

Of the 88,218 people tested last week, 9% received a positive result, the lowest rate since late October.

Official positivity 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 and the results are documented by the state.

The seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported coronavirus cases was 2,245.86 for Monday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the second-lowest mark since Nov. 14.

The seven-day average of newly reported deaths has remained stubbornly high since the start of February and was 131.96 for Monday.

In Monday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona ranked third in the nation for COVID-19 deaths per capita over the last seven days and 13th in cases.

The Arizona health department’s daily updates present case, death and testing data after the state receives statistics and confirms them, which can lag by several days or more. They don’t represent the actual activity over the past 24 hours.

The hospitalization data posted each morning is reported electronically the previous evening by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, 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.

Diagnostic testing is available at hundreds of locations across Arizona and should be sought out by anybody with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information about locations, schedules and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.

For more information about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration.

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

• Winter weather impacting much of the country has delayed this week’s COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Arizona and forced some appointments to be canceled.
• The Navajo Nation reported 24 new coronavirus cases and no additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 29,308 infections – including one delayed case – and 1,112 fatalities.
• The Pima County Health Department announced pre-registration for COVID-19 vaccination appointments will expand at County-supported sites to people over 65 beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
• All of the nearly 12,000 new appointments for the state-run COVID-19 vaccination site at the University of Arizona were snapped up in about 2½ hours.
• The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that 1,227,271 of the state’s 1,395,300 allocated COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of 10,145 from the previous day.
• Globally, there were about 109.25 million COVID-19 cases and 2.41 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 27.7 million cases and 486,000 deaths.

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