Arizona reports 2,250 new COVID-19 cases, 7 more deaths

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Feb. 8, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Monday reported 2,250 new coronavirus cases and seven additional deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s documented totals moved to 782,887 infections and 14,055 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

The virus remains widespread across the state, although the surge that made Arizona the nation’s hot spot last month is receding, mirroring a trend seen across the nation.

COVID-19 hospitalizations and daily case averages are now lower than they were at the July peak of the state’s first wave, but the death pace remains higher.

The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients fell to 2,853 on Sunday, the fewest since Dec. 2. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dipped to 828, the fewest since Dec. 11.

Statewide, COVID-19 patients took up 33% of all inpatient beds and 46% of all ICU beds on Sunday. Overall, inpatient beds were at 89% of capacity and ICU beds at 87%.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has been cut in half in the last month.

Of the 88,668 people tested last week, 12% received a positive result. The positivity rate has declined every week since it peaked at 24% for the week starting Dec. 27.

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 3,176.14 for Sunday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the lowest mark since Nov. 20.

The seven-day average of newly reported deaths hasn’t changed much since the start of February and was 132.57 for Sunday.

In Sunday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona ranked fifth in the nation in average cases and deaths per capita over the last seven days.

The Arizona health department’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 locations and information about registration.

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

• President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held up the State Farm Stadium mass vaccination site in Glendale as a model for others to follow during a virtual tour of the facility.
• The Navajo Nation reported 40 new cases and three additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 28,937 and 1,060 fatalities.
• President Joe Biden on Monday expressed his appreciation for the policy of vaccinating a “plus-one” at the state-run site at State Farm Stadium.
• Arizona will receive an additional 174,800 COVID-19 vaccines this week, less than the 300,000 requested by Gov. Doug Ducey and others.
• People age 75 and older are getting more options for where they can get vaccinated for COVID-19 in metro Phoenix.
• The University of Arizona is planning to offer more in-person classes later this month, citing lowering coronavirus numbers on campus and in Pima County.
• Globally, there were about 106.24 million COVID-19 cases and 2.32 million deaths as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 27.01 million cases and 463,000 deaths.

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