Arizona passes 3,000 coronavirus deaths, adds 2,335 more cases

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information, news and updates about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Thursday, July 23.

PHOENIX – The Arizona health department reported 89 new coronavirus fatalities, pushing the state’s pandemic death toll over 3,000, and 2,335 more diagnosed cases Thursday morning.

That brought the state’s totals to to 3,063 COVID-19 deaths and 152,944 cases.

According to Johns Hopkins University tracking, Arizona, which is the 14th-largest state by population, is the 15th state to surpass 3,000 coronavirus deaths.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Arizona’s hospitals dropped below 3,000 on Wednesday for the first time since July 1.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has been providing case and testing updates on its website each morning. The dashboard includes, among other information, testing trends, updated hospital capacity and a ZIP code map of cases.

The daily reports present 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 rate of new Arizona coronavirus cases has shown signs of slowing in recent weeks following the implementation of face mask requirements in many areas — including all of Maricopa County — and statewide executive orders to close businesses such as bars and gyms and to restrict restaurant occupancy.

Those moves were made after the state became a global hot spot for the coronavirus, which 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.

According to the Associated Press, the seven-day average for newly reported cases fell to 2,750.71 on Wednesday, the lowest point since June 24.

Arizona’s weekly positive rate for diagnostic PCR tests, which indicates how much the virus is spreading, is on pace to fall for the third consecutive week.

For the 5,533 tests given and processed this week, the positive rate is 14%.

The weekly positive rate was 5% in early May and started climbing after Arizona’s stay-at-home order expired. It peaked at 21% the week starting June 28 but had dipped to 15% last week, still much higher than health officials want to see.

Weekly 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.

The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients dropped Wednesday to 2,966, 128 fewer than the previous day and the seventh day-to-day decline in the past nine days.

Until Wednesday, Arizona’s hospitals had at least 3,000 COVID-19 inpatients each day for 20 consecutive days.

The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds also fell to the lowest point in weeks Wednesday, dropping by 19 overnight to 851. That was the lowest reported number since July 5.

In other notable hospital data from Wednesday related to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients:

• 440 were discharged, the most this week.
• 1,327 were seen in emergency departments, 42 fewer than the previous day and the seventh day-to-day decline in the past eight days.
• 617 were on ventilators, up by eight overnight and the second consecutive day with an increase. (Around half of the state’s ventilator supply remained unused.)
• 71 intubations for respiratory distress were performed, the fewest since July 2.

After reaching their lowest points in weeks on Monday, Arizona’s overall inpatient and ICU occupancy rates ticked up Wednesday for the second consecutive day.

Inpatient beds were 85% full, 1 percentage point higher than the previous day. The 83% figure seen Monday was the lowest since July 6.

ICU beds were 87% full, 1 percentage point higher than the previous day. The 85% figure seen Monday was the lowest since June 22.

The inpatient occupancy rate peaked July 9 and 10 at 88%, and the ICU occupancy rate topped out at 91% on July 7.

Hospital bed data on the health department website does not include surge beds that have not been activated but can potentially increase capacity.

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

• U.S. airlines Delta, Southwest and American announced additional measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic including employee testing and more rigorous mask requirements.
• Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez reported an additional 50 COVID-19 cases and one more virus-related death among the Navajo Nation.
• President Donald Trump announced that he was calling off the public events of the Republican National Convention scheduled to be held in Florida.
• Gov. Doug Ducey offered more guidance on the return of in-person learning and the upcoming year for Arizona schools during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Gov. Doug Ducey extended the closures of bars, gyms, nightclubs, movie theaters, water parks and tubing across the state of Arizona.
• With 1,674 newly reported coronavirus cases, Maricopa County surpassed the 100,000 mark. The Phoenix area has reported pandemic totals of 101,622 cases and 1,584 deaths.
• There were more than 15.2 million coronavirus cases and 624,000 deaths reported globally as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. For the U.S., there were more than 3.97 million cases and 143,000 deaths.
• Here’s what you need to know about how to get free COVID-19 testing in metro Phoenix.
• The University of Arizona will study coronavirus antibodies found in essential workers over the course of the next year.

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