Arizona reports 1,406 new coronavirus cases, 79 additional deaths

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information, news and updates about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Friday, Aug. 7.

PHOENIX – Arizona health authorities reported 1,406 new coronavirus cases and 79 additional deaths on Friday morning.

That brought the state’s documented totals to 185,053 COVID-19 infections and 4,081 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Multiple key metrics about the severity of Arizona’s pandemic, including coronavirus-related hospitalizations, are at or near the lowest they’ve been in weeks.

The rolling seven-day average for newly reported cases was 1,835.57 on Thursday, the lowest since June 18, according to tracking by The Associated Press.

The seven-day average of newly reported deaths was 53.71, falling below 60 for the first time since July 14 and to the lowest point since July 11.

The spread of coronavirus in Arizona has been slowing in the weeks after the implementation of face mask requirements by local governments 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.

Arizona’s weekly positive rate for diagnostic PCR tests, which indicates how much the virus is spreading, is on pace to fall for the fifth consecutive week. It was 9% for the 22,292 tests given and processed since Sunday that have been reported by the state.

The 11% positive rate for last week was the lowest seen since it was 9% the week starting May 24.

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 backlogs.

The weekly positive rate was 5% in early May and started climbing after Gov. Doug Ducey let Arizona’s stay-at-home order expire. It peaked at 21% the week starting June 28.

The Arizona health department’s daily reports present case, death and testing 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 hospital data posted each morning, however, is reported the previous evening by the hospitals.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations declined again Thursday, continuing a weekslong trend.

The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients fell to 1,772, the fewest since June 17.

The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds fell to 565, the fewest since June 20.

COVID-19 inpatients peaked at 3,517 on July 13, and COVID-19 patients in ICU beds topped out at 970 the same day.

Overall, Arizona inpatient and ICU bed usage rates remained several percentage points below the high marks seen a month ago.

Inpatient beds were 83% full on Thursday for the second consecutive day. The inpatient occupancy rate peaked at 88% on July 9-10.

The ICU occupancy rate increased by 1 point to 84%. It 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.

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

• Navajo Nation reported 34 new positive COVID-19 cases and zero deaths. The community sits at 9,257 cases and 468 deaths. A total of 6,810 individuals have recovered from the virus
• The United States added 1.8 million jobs in July, a pullback from the gains of May and June and evidence that the resurgent coronavirus is slowing an economic rebound.
• There were more than 19.1 million coronavirus cases and 715,000 deaths reported globally as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. For the U.S., there were more than 4.8 million cases and 160,000 deaths.

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