Arizona reports 1,735 new coronavirus cases, 54 deaths on Saturday

This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for March 6, 2021.

PHOENIX – Arizona public health officials reported 1,735 new coronavirus cases and 54 additional deaths on Saturday.

The state’s documented totals were updated to 825,119 coronavirus infections and 16,323 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

The number of vaccine doses administered in Arizona was up to 2,071,601, with 1,341,190 people having received at least one shot, 18.7% of the state’s population.

Key metrics used to gauge the severity of the pandemic in the state are the lowest they’ve been in months.

The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in the state’s hospitals decreased to 966 on Friday, the fewest since Nov. 2. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients fell to 280, the fewest since Nov. 7.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is at a five-month low.

Of the 48,414 people tested so far this week, 6% received a positive result, which would be the lowest rate since mid-October if it holds up. The percent positivity was 7% for 80,522 people 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 1,265.14 for Friday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, up slightly from the previous day and the second-lowest since late October.

The seven-day average of newly reported deaths increased slightly to 62.17.

After leading the nation in both categories earlier this year, Arizona now ranks in the lower half among states and the District of Columbia for the rate of new cases but remains near the top in deaths.

In Thursday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona was eighth in the nation for COVID-19 deaths per capita over the last seven days and 26th 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 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 details about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration and eligibility.

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

• The Navajo Nation reported 16 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 29,857 infections and 1,198 fatalities.
• Globally, there were about 116.18 million COVID-19 cases and 2.58 million deaths as of Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 28.9 million cases and 522,872 deaths.

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