Arizona reports 9,913 new COVID-19 cases, record 297 more deaths

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Jan 7, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Thursday reported 9,913 new coronavirus cases and a record 297 additional deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s documented totals moved to 584,593 COVID-19 infections and 9,741 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.

The previous record for deaths reported in a day, 253, came Tuesday.

The health department said 238 of Thursday’s reported deaths were determined through the death certificate matching process. The department didn’t provide information about how far back the deaths occurred.

As of Wednesday, Arizona had the highest coronavirus case rate and fourth-highest death rate per capita in the last seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Arizona’s hospitals continued to see record numbers of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.

The number of Arizona’s COVID-19 hospital inpatients climbed to 4,920 on Wednesday, 43 more than the record set a day earlier.

The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds rose to a record 1,101.

Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up 57% of all inpatient beds and 62% of all ICU beds, both matching record highs.

Overall, inpatient beds and ICU beds were each 93% full, matching the pandemic highs. Only 128 ICU beds were unused.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is the highest it’s ever been.

Of the 164,825 people who got tested last week, a record 25% received a positive result. So far this week, 26% of the 35,594 people who were tested got a positive result.

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 coronavirus cases was 8,884.43 for Wednesday, the highest ever, according to tracking by The Associated Press.

The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths was 103.71 for Wednesday, also a record high.

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.

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

• The Navajo Nation reported 257 new coronavirus cases and six more deaths, bringing the documented totals to 24,521 infections and 844 fatalities.
• The Arizona Department of Health Services amended its coronavirus vaccination totals on Thursday, saying the changes have come from taking the time to validate data the department has received.
• Republican Arizona State Rep. John Kavanagh is asking the attorney general for clarity on the Legislature’s power in response to emergency executive orders made by the governor during the pandemic.
• Gov. Doug Ducey’s choices are getting renewed scrutiny as Arizona becomes what health officials call the latest “hot spot of the world” because of soaring COVID-19 case loads.
• Globally, there were about 87.36 million COVID-19 cases and 1.89 million deaths as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 21.31 million cases and 361,000 deaths.

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