Arizona reports 675 new coronavirus cases, 9 more deaths
Sep 29, 2020, 8:25 AM | Updated: 1:26 pm
(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information, news and updates about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Tuesday, Sept. 29.
PHOENIX – Arizona health authorities reported 675 new coronavirus cases and nine additional deaths on Tuesday morning.
That put the state’s documented totals at 218,184 COVID-19 infections and 5,632 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 months.
The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients rose to 540 on Monday, the most since last Wednesday.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds ticked up by four to 119, still near the fewest recorded during the pandemic.
COVID-19 inpatients peaked at 3,517 on July 13, and COVID-19 patients in ICU beds topped out at 970 the same day.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing has been at 4% for past four weeks, with 62,045 tests completed last week.
The positivity rate, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, had been as high as 20% at the end of June.
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 and the results are documented by the state.
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 hospitalization data posted each morning, however, is reported the previous evening by the hospitals.
The rolling seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported cases was 465.57 through Monday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, well below the July 6 peak of 3,844.
The seven-day average of newly reported deaths was relatively steady at 20.71, well below the July 30 peak of 94.
As cases skyrocketed in June, local governments in many parts of Arizona — including all of Maricopa County — implemented face mask requirements, and Gov. Doug Ducey issued statewide executive orders to close certain businesses and restrict restaurant occupancy.
The spread of COVID-19 soon slowed and has been steadily falling since the peak of the pandemic. Much of the state has hit benchmarks established by the health department that allow certain businesses to reopen under capacity restrictions and other regulations.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, 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.
Below are Tuesday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The city of Mesa is offering to reimburse up to $1,000 to restaurants that invest in expanding their service to outdoor areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The city of Tempe is accepting applications from nonprofit groups for COVID-19 recovery grants totaling $500,000.
- Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman said there should be more communication and transparency about the coronavirus cases in Arizona schools to help ease community fears.
- Globally, there were more than 33.4 million COVID-19 cases and 1 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the U.S. were around 7.1 million cases and 205,000 deaths.