Arizona reports 1,507 new COVID-19 cases, no additional deaths Monday

Feb 22, 2021, 8:25 AM | Updated: 8:46 pm

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Feb. 22, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona officials on Monday reported 1,507 new coronavirus cases and no additional deaths from COVID-19.

The state’s updated documented totals were 809,474 coronavirus infections and 15,502 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

Three deaths were subtracted from Sunday’s reported total because of death certificate matching, the department said.

After spiking to record highs in the first part of January, case and hospitalization numbers have fallen to pre-Thanksgiving levels in Arizona.

The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in the state’s hospitals decreased to 1,590 on Sunday, the fewest since Nov. 15. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients declined to 478, the fewest since Nov. 23.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has been trending downward since the start of the year.

Of the 73,378 people tested last week, 9% received a positive result, the same as the previous week and matching the lowest mark since October.

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 1,528.14 for Sunday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the second-lowest mark since Nov. 5.

The seven-day average of newly reported deaths was down to 75.29 for Sunday, the lowest mark of 2021.

In Sunday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona was sixth in the nation for COVID-19 deaths per capita over the last seven days and 17th in cases. Arizona led the U.S. in both categories at times in January.

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 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 information about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration.

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

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered flags be at half-staff across the state Tuesday to honor those lost to COVID-19.
The Navajo Nation reported 15 new coronavirus cases and 1 additional death, bringing the documented totals to 29,551 infections and 1,145 fatalities.
The COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, about equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska.
The Arizona health department is adding a fourth state-run site for mass COVID-19 vaccinations next week, this one in the East Valley.
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that 1,480,973 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, with 1,076,857 people having received at least one shot.
Globally, there were about 111.52 million COVID-19 cases and 2.47 million deaths as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 28.14 million cases and 499,000 deaths.

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