Arizona coronavirus deaths surge by 9 to total of 41

PHOENIX — Arizona reported a surge of deaths from the coronavirus Friday morning, with nine fatalities pushing the state total to 41, while the Phoenix area case count climbed above 1,000, according to the state health department.

The state now has 1,769 reported positive tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, an increase of 171 from the previous morning. The total of tests given increased to 24,673, 1,966 more than were reported Thursday.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has been providing daily case and testing updates on its website each morning.

The totals in Thursday morning’s state report were 1,598 positive tests and 32 deaths, with 22,707 tests having been given. That case total was an increase of 185 from the previous morning.

The rate of positive results has been around 6% since the state started reporting the number of tests given by private labs.

The number of cases in Maricopa County, the state’s most-populous and hardest-hit county, increased by 88 to 1,049 on Thursday, according to the state report (the Maricopa County Public Health website’s totals differ slightly from the state totals because they don’t finish compiling numbers at the same time each day).

The metro Phoenix death total went up by five to 17.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected” executive order to combat the spread of COVID-19 went into effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. and is active until at least the end of April.

During a virtual town hall Thursday night, Ducey said guidelines regarding his designation of essential services could be modified as the outbreak continues to unfold.

For most people, coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 5,443 deaths from more than 239,000 COVID-19 cases as of Friday’s daily report.

According to data compiled and regularly updated by Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 1 million cases and 55,000 deaths globally as of Friday morning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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