Arizona reports 18 more deaths, surpasses 8,000 coronavirus cases

PHOENIX — Arizona reported 402 new positive tests for coronavirus and 18 additional deaths on Saturday morning, as the state’s case total surpassed the 8,000 mark.

The state now has 8,364 cases of COVID-19 and 348 deaths from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

There have been 77,997 tests given in Arizona, an increase of 3,118 from the previous day. Nine percent of the state’s completed tests have come back positive.

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

The department reported totals of 7,962 cases, 330 deaths and 74,879 tests given in Friday morning’s update.

More than 76% of the people who have died of coronavirus in Arizona were ages 65 and older.

The state is ramping up testing with a program called Arizona Testing Blitz that aims to test 10,000-20,000 residents for COVID-19 over each of the next three Saturdays.

Anybody who thinks they may have been infected by the coronavirus or exposed to it can get a test under the plan.

Because of supply shortages, tests had previously been limited mostly to health care workers, first responders, people in high-risk populations and patients showing serious symptoms.

In most cases, a positive test 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 62,406 deaths from more than 1 million COVID-19 cases as of Friday’s daily U.S. update.

According to data compiled and regularly updated by Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 3.3 million cases and 239,000 deaths globally as of Saturday morning.

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