Arizona reports 822 new coronavirus cases, 5 additional deaths
Nov 30, 2020, 8:28 AM | Updated: 2:50 pm
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Nov. 30, 2020.
PHOENIX – Arizona health authorities on Monday reported 822 new coronavirus cases with five additional deaths.
That put the state’s documented totals at 326,817 COVID-19 infections and 6,639 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
It was the lowest daily case report since Nov. 9, although Monday COVID-19 updates have consistently had lower numbers than other days of the week.
Overall, key pandemic metrics have been rising in Arizona at rates not seen since the first wave hit in June and July. Cases have been surging since the beginning of October and reached record levels last week.
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The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients was 2,513 on Sunday, a 25% increase in the last week and the most since July 27.
The number of COVID-19 inpatients peaked July 13 at 3,517 and fell afterward as low as 468 on Sept. 27.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds was 579 on Sunday, a 23% increase in the last week and the most since Aug. 5.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds peaked July 13 at 970 and fell afterward as low as 114 on Sept. 22.
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Statewide, 29% of all inpatient beds and 33% of all ICU beds were filled with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients on Sunday, levels last seen in late July and early August. Overall, inpatient beds were 86% filled and ICU beds were 89% filled on Sunday.
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 more than four months.
The positivity rate was 14% through 107,669 tests reported last week, the highest since it was 16% for the week starting July 12.
The weekly rate peaked at 21% at the end of June and was down to 4% as recently as early October.
Official positivity 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.
Four days after reaching a record high of nearly 4,000, the rolling seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported cases dipped to 3,761.43 for Sunday, according to tracking by The Associated Press.
The seven-day case average had fallen after the summer wave as low as 373.14 on Sept. 12.
The seven-day average of newly reported deaths is relatively stable compared to the case counts and was at 24.29 for Sunday.
The seven-day death average peaked July 30 at 94 and fell afterward as low as 5.57 on Oct. 14.
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.
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.
Information about testing locations can be found on the Arizona Department of Health Services website.
Below are Monday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- Moderna Inc. said it would ask U.S. and European regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection.
- Globally, there were more than 62.86 million COVID-19 cases and 1.46 million deaths as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 13.38 million cases and 266,000 deaths.
