Arizona reports 4,381 new COVID-19 cases, 231 more deaths Tuesday
Feb 9, 2021, 8:25 AM | Updated: 2:58 pm
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Feb. 9, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Tuesday reported 4,381 new coronavirus cases and 231 additional deaths from COVID-19.
The state’s documented totals moved to 787,268 infections and 14,286 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.
RELATED STORIES
The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients fell to 2,744 on Monday, the fewest since Dec. 2. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dipped to 797, the fewest since Dec. 8.
Statewide, COVID-19 patients took up 32% of all inpatient beds and 45% of all ICU beds on Monday. Overall, inpatient beds were at 88% of capacity and ICU beds at 87%.
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 been cut in half in the last month.
Of the 103,528 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.
The positive rate was 11% through 3,026 people tested this week.
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 2,963.14 for Monday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the lowest mark since Nov. 19.
The seven-day average of newly reported deaths hasn’t changed much since the start of February and was 133 for Monday.
In Monday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona ranked third in the nation for COVID-19 deaths per capita over the last seven days and eighth in cases.
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.
Below are Tuesday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The Arizona Department of Health Services added a vaccine section to its online COVID-19 dashboard, with provisional data on doses given, a demographic breakdown and more.
- The state of Arizona will distribute $289 million in federal aid to help people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic pay their rent and utilities in 12 rural Arizona counties.
- Pima County health officials were taken by surprise when Arizona Health Director Dr. Cara Christ told President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris that a state-run COVID-19 vaccination site was planned for the Tucson area.
- President Joe Biden thanked Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey for his cooperation in distributing COVID-19 vaccines in the state.
- Globally, there were about 106.58 million COVID-19 cases and 2.33 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 27.1 million cases and 465,000 deaths.
