Arizona reports no COVID-19 deaths again Tuesday, with just 563 cases
Mar 9, 2021, 8:28 AM | Updated: 9:42 pm
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for March 9, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona public health officials on Tuesday reported no new coronavirus deaths for the second consecutive day, the first time that’s happened since Oct. 11-12.
The number of newly reported COVID-19 cases was 563, the smallest daily update since Nov. 9 and the first time it was below 1,000 on back-to-back days since an Oct. 21-24 stretch.
The state’s documented totals were updated to 827,800 coronavirus infections and 16,326 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.
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The death total actually declined by two due to death certificate matching, the department said.
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 increased overnight by six to 925 on Monday, the second-fewest since Nov. 1. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dipped to 255, the fewest since Nov. 6.
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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 75,656 people tested last week, 5% received a positive result, the lowest percent positivity since early October. The rate through 2,324 people this week was 7%.
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 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 COVID-19 vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration and eligibility.
Below are Tuesday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- Maricopa County is allocating its first batch of around 34,000 one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines to essential workers in the Phoenix area.
- The Navajo Nation reported 12 new coronavirus cases and 14 additional deaths, bringing the documented totals to 29,887 infections – including two delayed reported cases – and 1,204 fatalities.
- The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that 2,197,376 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, a day-over-day increase of 46,480, with 1,412,740 people (19.7% of the state’s population) having received at least one shot.
- Visitation to Grand Canyon National Park tumbled by millions last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The state health department has launched a program aimed at getting underserved populations vaccinated against COVID-19.
- Globally, there were about 117.27 million COVID-19 cases and 2.6 million deaths as of Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 29.05 million cases and 526,000 deaths.
