Arizona reports 7,316 COVID-19 cases, 169 more deaths on Saturday

Jan 23, 2021, 8:28 AM | Updated: 6:03 pm

(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Jan. 23, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Saturday reported 7,316 new coronavirus cases and 169 additional deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s documented totals moved to 715,357 infections and 12,170 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

As of Saturday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona continued to lead the nation in cases per capita over the last seven days and remained in the top spot for the second straight day in death rate. On Wednesday, Arizona was fourth in deaths per capita over the last seven days.

The state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have been trending downward since spiking to record levels early last week.

The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients fell to 4,442 on Friday, the fewest since Dec. 27. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dipped to 1,049, the second-fewest since Dec. 28.

Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up 51% of all inpatient beds and 58% of all ICU beds on Friday.

Overall, inpatient beds opened up slightly to being 91% full, and ICU beds are 92% full.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has fallen since hitting an all-time high of 24% three weeks ago.

Of the 85,798 people tested this week, 20% received a positive result, matching last week’s rate.

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 state health department’s newly reported coronavirus cases was at 8,099 for Friday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, increasing for a second day in a row.

The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths moved to 160.33 for Friday, rising for the third consecutive 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.

The department also has a vaccine-finder page with a map of active and pending locations and information about registration.

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

The Navajo Nation reported 132 new coronavirus cases and 12 additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 27,109 infections and 966 fatalities.
Globally, there were about 98.27 million COVID-19 cases and 2.11 million deaths as of Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 24.82 million cases and 414,124 deaths.
Arizona Department of Health Services reports more than 400,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered and more than 60,000 individuals have received both doses.
Grand Canyon University is set to open a new COVID-19 vaccine site on its campus on Tuesday
The multipurpose Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley will be the latest large venue in Arizona to become a COVID-19 vaccination site.

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