Arizona reports 1,861 new COVID-19 cases, 200 more deaths Thursday
Feb 11, 2021, 8:25 AM | Updated: 9:46 pm
Joe Jasso received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, at a Neighborhood Outreach Access to Health center in Phoenix. (KTAR News Photo/Ali Vetnar)
(KTAR News Photo/Ali Vetnar)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Feb. 11, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Thursday reported 1,861 new coronavirus cases and 200 additional deaths from COVID-19.
The state’s documented totals moved to 791,106 infections and 14,662 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.
Fewer than 2,000 new cases have been reported three of the last five days. Prior to that, it hadn’t been below that mark since December.
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.
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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 2,507 on Wednesday, the fewest since Nov. 28. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dipped to 719, the fewest since Dec. 5.
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Statewide, COVID-19 patients took up 29% of all inpatient beds and 40% of all ICU beds on Wednesday. Overall, inpatient beds were at 90% of capacity and ICU beds at 88%.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has declined every week since it peaked at 24% for the week starting Dec. 27.
Of the 25,794 people tested so far this week, 10% received a positive result.
The percent positivity was 12% for 109,480 people tested last 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 3,123.71 for Wednesday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the second-lowest mark since Nov. 19.
The seven-day average of newly reported deaths hasn’t changed much since the start of February and was 126.57 for Wednesday.
In Wednesday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona ranked fourth in the nation for COVID-19 deaths per capita over the last seven days and ninth 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.
For more information about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration.
Below are Thursday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 53 new coronavirus cases and 11 additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 29,098 infections and 1,097 fatalities.
- Despite a COVID-19 vaccine supply shortage, Arizona Health Director Dr. Cara Christ told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show that appointments won’t be canceled.
- Maricopa County said it will expand COVID-19 vaccination eligibility to 65, lowering its age cutoff from 75 because nearly half of older adults already have had at least one shot.
- The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that 1,045,644 of the state’s 1,220,400 allocated COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, an increase of nearly 49,000 from Wednesday.
- University of Arizona President Robert Robbins wants more COVID-19 vaccine doses as the campus gets ready to become the third state-run vaccination site.
- A Phoenix health care facility focused on serving vulnerable and underserved populations began COVID-19 vaccinations for its patients.
- Globally, there were about 107.45 million COVID-19 cases and 2.36 million deaths as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 27.29 million cases and 472,000 deaths.
