Backlog of coronavirus testing in Arizona continues to grow
Mar 13, 2020, 10:19 AM | Updated: 12:40 pm
Medical staff wearing protective suits take a sample to test a possible patient infected with Coronavirus at a mobile testing center at the Na Bulovce hospital on March 13, 2020 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – No new coronavirus cases were reported in Arizona on Friday morning, but the state’s COVID-19 testing backlog continues to grow.
The state administered 28 tests between Thursday morning and Friday morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services, and the total of cases remained at nine.
However, only 12 tests were ruled out during that time frame, increasing the number of tests pending from 24 to 40. One week ago, on the morning of March 6, 15 tests were pending.
As of Friday morning, the state had administered 143 tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, since the start of the outbreak. Of those, 94 had been ruled out.
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On Thursday morning, 115 tests had been conducted and 82 ruled out. The figures Wednesday morning were 100 tests given and 59 ruled out.
The state health department has been providing online updates on test results each morning.
One change in Friday’s report was that another Arizona positive test, the third, was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control. The other six cases remained classified as “presumptive,” meaning a state lab made the diagnosis and awaits confirmation by the CDC.
Five of Arizona’s cases are from one household in Pinal County. Three are from Maricopa County, and one is in Pima County.
