Arizona reports 5,918 new COVID-19 cases, 195 more deaths

Jan 27, 2021, 8:27 AM | Updated: 5:20 pm

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Jan. 27, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Wednesday reported 5,918 new coronavirus cases and 195 additional deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s documented totals moved to 738,561 infections and 12,643 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

As of Tuesday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona continued to lead the nation in average deaths per capita over the last seven days and slipped to second behind Rhode Island for cases.

Key metrics indicate that the massive coronavirus surge in Arizona that started in November is past its peak, but spread remains substantial across the state.

The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients increased by 29 overnight to 4,250 on Tuesday, ending a seven-day streak of declines. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dropped to 1,024, 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 Tuesday. Overall, inpatient beds were at 91% of capacity and ICU beds at 92%.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has leveled off but remains at a substantial level.

Of the 153,473 people tested last week, 19% received a positive result, the lowest rate since the week starting Dec. 13. For 12,864 people tested so far this week, the positive rate is 20%.

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 6,706.29 for Tuesday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the lowest mark since Jan. 2.

The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths surged to 168.86 for Tuesday, the highest since the record of 186.5 registered on Jan. 18 and fourth-highest ever.

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

The Navajo Nation reported 152 new coronavirus cases and four additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 27,887 infections and 989 fatalities.
Arizona Health Director Dr. Cara Christ told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show that authorities are actively working to help people struggling to schedule their second COVID-19 vaccine shot.
Consumer confidence in Arizona’s economy was down toward the end of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic surged, according to the Greater Phoenix Chamber’s Arizona Business Index.
Arizona has surpassed the 500,000 mark for COVID-19 vaccines administered, according to the state health department.
Biden administration experts will start hosting briefings three times a week on the state of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Since the start of the pandemic, St. Mary’s Food Bank has experienced an unprecedented demand for food to feed families across Arizona.
Globally, there were about 100.39 million COVID-19 cases and 2.16 million deaths as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 25.4 million cases and 425,000 deaths.