Arizona reports 1,679 new coronavirus cases; death count passes 6,000
Nov 3, 2020, 8:26 AM | Updated: 8:40 am
(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
PHOENIX – Arizona health authorities reported 1,679 new coronavirus cases and 38 additional deaths on Tuesday morning.
That put the state’s documented totals at 249,818 COVID-19 infections and 6,020 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Arizona passed 6,000 COVID-19 deaths about two months after crossing the 5,000 mark on Aug. 29. It took under one month to go from 4,000 to 5,000.
Tuesday was the eighth time in 10 days with more than 1,000 reported cases.
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Key metrics about the severity of Arizona’s pandemic have dropped dramatically from summertime peaks, but cases and hospitalizations have been trending upward over the last month.
The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients rose overnight to 956 on Monday. That was 63.1% higher than Oct. 1, when it was 586, and the most since Aug. 25.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds dipped to 227, 81.6% higher than Oct. 1, when it was 125, and the second most since Sept. 5.
The hospitalizations remain far under the pandemic highs of 3,517 inpatients and 970 ICU patients, both recorded July 13.
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Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has reached its highest level in two months.
It was 7% for 86,057 tests from last week, which would be the highest since it was 8% for the week starting Aug. 2.
The rate 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 rolling seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported cases was at 1,310.71 for Monday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the second highest since Aug. 7 and 173% higher than the Oct. 1 mark of 480.
The seven-day average of newly reported deaths had been relatively stable but surged following Saturday’s single-day report of 45 deaths. It was 15.29 for Monday, the same as the previous day. The metric has more than doubled in the past week but remains below the Oct. 1 mark of 16.43.
The seven-day averages remain well below their peaks of 3,844 cases on July 6 and 94 fatalities on July 30.
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 is reported the previous evening by the hospitals.
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 slowed after those steps were taken. All of Arizona’s counties have since hit benchmarks established by the health department that allow closed 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 Phoenix Police Department crime lab has been certified to process coronavirus tests, which can assist with death investigations.
- Globally, there were more than 47 million COVID-19 cases and 1.2 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the U.S. were around 9.3 million cases and 231,500 deaths.
