Arizona reports record 335 additional COVID-19 deaths 8,559 new cases
Jan 12, 2021, 8:27 AM | Updated: 6:35 pm
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Jan. 12, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Tuesday reported a record 335 additional deaths from COVID-19 and 8,559 new coronavirus cases.
Of the deaths added, 232 were identified through the death certificate matching process, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. The previous record for deaths reported in a day was 297 on Jan. 7.
The state’s documented totals moved to 636,100 COVID-19 infections and 10,482 fatalities, according to the health department’s dashboard.
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Arizona has reported more COVID-19 deaths in the last eight days (1,418) than it did during all of July (1,401), the worst month of the summer wave.
As of Monday, Arizona had the highest rate per capita nationally for COVID-19 deaths and second-highest rate for cases over the last seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
During his annual State of the State address on Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey made it clear the state would be taking no further mitigation measures and would rely on the vaccine, which remains in limited supply and is being rationed to high-risk and high-priority populations, to bring the pandemic under control.
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Arizona’s hospitals continue to see record numbers of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.
The number of Arizona’s COVID-19 hospital inpatients climbed to a record 5,082 on Monday, surpassing 5,000 for the first time. The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds rose to a record 1,183.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up a record-tying 59% of all inpatient beds and a record-breaking 66% of all ICU beds.
Overall, inpatient beds and ICU beds were each 92% full, slightly below the pandemic highs.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, fell slightly last week.
Of the 187,945 people who were tested last week, 23% received a positive result, down 1 percentage point from the previous week’s record level.
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 9,428.43 for Monday, the second-highest ever, according to tracking by The Associated Press.
The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths set a record for the sixth consecutive day Monday at 154.71. More than 1,000 deaths have been documented in the last week.
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 Tuesday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
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The coronavirus vaccine distribution site at State Farm Stadium vaccinated nearly 4,000 people by 6 p.m. on the first day of operations, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
- Barely a month into a mass vaccination campaign to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration unexpectedly shifted gears to speed the delivery of shots.
- A veteran East Valley police officer has died after “a protracted battle with COVID-19,” the Chandler Police Department announced.
- You don’t have to live in Maricopa County to sign up for a shot at Arizona’s new 24-hour COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium.
- Globally, there were about 91.03 million COVID-19 cases and 1.95 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 22.62 million cases and 376,000 deaths.
