Arizona reports 2,176 new COVID-19 cases, no additional deaths Monday

PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Monday reported 2,176 new COVID-19 cases, the fewest in a day in three weeks, and no additional deaths from the virus.

Today’s #COVID19 dashboard adds 2,176 cases and no deaths. Don’t risk it: COVID-19 boosters and vaccines will reduce the chance of severe illness and death and reduce the chance that you will contract COVID-19. #RollUpYourSleeve More: https://t.co/n6vDlhPBPQ. pic.twitter.com/utjj21pXej

— AZ Dept of Health (@AZDHS) December 20, 2021

That put the state’s documented pandemic totals at 1,338,982 infections and 23,519 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 dashboard.

Coming out of the weekend, Monday morning updates are routinely smaller than other days and often have few or no new deaths.

Regardless, the state’s seven-day rolling average for new cases was down to 2,945 on Sunday, according to tracking by The New York Times, the first time under 3,000 since Dec. 1 and the lowest since Nov. 6.

However, after dropping for five consecutive days, the number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients in Arizona ticked up to 2,496 on Sunday. That was 16 more than the previous day but still the second-fewest in the past four weeks.

ICU use for COVID patients was at 686 beds, down four from the previous day. It was eighth time in the past nine days without an increase in COVID ICU patients.

Overall hospital use remains high but has stabilized since reaching pandemic peaks earlier this month.

On Sunday, available space was reported at 560 inpatient beds (6% of capacity) and 90 ICU beds (5% of capacity). COVID cases took up 28% of statewide inpatient beds and 41% of the ICU beds.

Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for diagnostic COVID testing has been trending downward this month but remains at a level of high transmission, with 11% of the completed samples taken last week returning positive as of Monday’s dashboard update. That’s down 2 percentage points from the week starting Nov. 28.

ADHS released new data earlier this month showing that Arizonans who aren’t fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were nearly four times more likely than those who are to test positive in October and over 15 times more likely to die from the virus.

Banner Health, the state’s largest hospital network, reported last week that 88% of its COVID ICU patients hadn’t been vaccinated.

The state dashboard on Monday showed 68.5% of Arizonans old enough to get vaccinated have received at least one shot, with 58.2% fully vaccinated. That trails the national rates of 77.3% of age-eligible individuals with at least one dose and 65.3% fully vaccinated.

The minimum age to receive the Pfizer shot is 5, and it’s 18 for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The Pfizer version has full Food and Drug Administration approval, while the other two were granted emergency use authorization.

Health officials recommend booster shots for adults (including people 16 and older for Pfizer) who received their second Pfizer or Moderna doses more than six months ago and those who got the Johnson & Johnson shot at least two months ago.

For details about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with locations and other information.

For information about metro Phoenix vaccine availability, Maricopa County Public Health has a locator page that lists pharmacies, government-run sites, health clinics and pop-up distribution events. Appointments may be required depending on the provider.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 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.

Information about where to get tested for COVID-19 can be found on the ADHS website.

The state health department’s daily updates present case and death 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 numbers posted each morning are reported electronically the previous evening by hospitals across the state.

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