Arizona coronavirus case total nears 4,000, with 142 deaths

PHOENIX — The Arizona health department reported an increase of 156 coronavirus positive tests and 11 deaths in its daily report Wednesday morning.

The state’s totals during the COVID-19 outbreak are now 3,962 cases and 142 deaths, with 45,310 tests given.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has been providing daily case and testing updates on its website each morning. The report was recently expanded to include additional details about deaths and hospital capacity plus a ZIP code map of cases.

The state reported 3,806 cases and 131 deaths, with 44,096 tests given, on Tuesday morning.

The number of cases in Maricopa County, the state’s most-populous and hardest-hit county, increased by 90 to 2,146 on Wednesday, according to the state report.

The Phoenix-area death total increased by six to 60. Of Maricopa County’s cases, 20% of patients have required hospitalization.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said Tuesday he’d like to open up the state from the stay-at-home order he issued March 30, but only when the time is right.

He’s asked Arizona business leaders to provide their feedback on a plan for economic recovery.

He also announced that the state has partnered with the University of Arizona to provide 250,000 COVID-19 antibody tests for health care professionals and first responders fighting the virus.

The hope is the tests will provide details about who has been affected by the coronavirus that can be used to shield citizens from further exposure.

Testing for COVID-19 remains limited because of a national and local supply shortage. Health officials have prioritized at-risk populations, people showing serious symptoms and health care workers for getting tested. In most cases, a positive diagnosis won’t change a patient’s treatment plan.

Coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, 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 24,582 deaths from more than 605,000 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday’s daily U.S. update.

According to data compiled and regularly updated by Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 2 million cases and over 133,000 deaths globally as of Wednesday afternoon.

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