Arizona reports 10,060 new COVID-19 cases, 151 deaths on New Year’s Day
Jan 1, 2021, 8:39 AM | Updated: 7:17 pm
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Jan. 1, 2021.
PHOENIX – In the first daily update of 2021, Arizona health officials reported 10,060 new coronavirus cases and 151 additional deaths.
Friday’s numbers bring the state’s documented totals to 530,267 COVID-19 infections and 9,015 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
And as has been the case throughout December, multiple COVID-19 metrics in Arizona are at or near pandemic highs.
The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients fell to 4,501 on Thursday, down from 4,564 on Wednesday.
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The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds climbed to 1,072 on Thursday.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up 52% of all inpatient beds, tying the record, and 61% of all ICU beds.
Overall, inpatient beds and ICU beds each were 93% full. The 123 remaining ICU beds were the second-fewest of the pandemic.
The rising tide of COVID-19 patients is squeezing the space left for other patients in Arizona’s hospitals. Banner Health, the state’s largest hospital system, said Wednesday it will pause all elective surgeries in Arizona starting Friday in response to the deluge of COVID-19 patients.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is on a record-setting pace.
The percent positivity was 26% through 66,759 tests processed this week. If that holds up, it will surpass the record-tying mark of 21% from last week.
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.
The rolling seven-day average for the health department’s newly reported cases has been trending downward since peaking two weeks ago and was at 5,698.29 for Thursday, according to tracking by The Associated Press.
The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths has been climbing this week and was up to 81.43 for Thursday, the highest level since Christmas Day.
The state’s daily updates 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 electronically the previous evening by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.
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.
Diagnostic testing is available at hundreds of locations across Arizona and should be sought out by anybody with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information about locations, schedules and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
Below are Friday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 266 new coronavirus cases and seven additional deaths on Friday, bringing the documented totals to 23,429 infections and 813 fatalities
- Globally, there were about 83.57 million COVID-19 cases and 1.82 million deaths as of Friday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 19.975 million cases and 345,844 deaths.
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