Arizona reports 5,321 new COVID-19 cases, 1 additional death
Jan 25, 2021, 8:26 AM | Updated: 5:59 pm
A pharmacy technician prepares a dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine to be administered to a patient at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on January 21, 2021 in Torrance, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Jan. 25, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Monday reported 5,321 new coronavirus cases and one additional death from COVID-19.
The state’s documented totals moved to 727,895 infections and 12,239 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.
As of Sunday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona continued to lead the nation in average cases and deaths per capita over the last seven days.
RELATED STORIES
However, the state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have been trending downward since spiking to record levels two weeks ago.
The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients fell for the sixth consecutive day to 4,229 on Sunday, the fewest since Dec. 26. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dipped to 1,027, the fewest since Dec. 27.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up 49% of all inpatient beds and 57% of all ICU beds on Sunday, both down 1 percentage point from the previous day.
RELATED STORIES
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has fallen for three consecutive weeks but remains at a substantial level.
Of the 134,157 people tested last week, 19% received a positive result, the lowest rate since the week starting Dec. 13.
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 seven-day average for the state health department’s newly reported coronavirus cases was at 6,956 for Sunday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, up slightly from the previous day but the second-lowest mark since Jan. 2.
The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths moved up to 162.17 for Sunday, the highest seen since Jan. 18.
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 Monday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 89 new coronavirus cases and four additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 27,573 infections and 977 fatalities.
- Child care costs have gone up 84% in Arizona since the pandemic began in March, according to LendingTree, the seventh-largest increase in the country.
- As vaccination distribution increases steadily in Maricopa County, a Valley-based nonprofit is dedicated to vaccinating those who are homeless.
- Globally, there were about 99.28 million COVID-19 cases and 2.13 million deaths as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 25.13 million cases and 419,000 deaths.
