Bible-Based Fellowship Church is working with the Pasco County Health Department and Army National Guard to help residents 65 years and older administer the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine on February 13, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Octavio Jones / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for February 17, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona has surpassed 800,000 coronavirus cases and 15,000 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
State officials on Wednesday reported 1,315 new cases and 82 additional deaths, pushing the documented total to 801,055 infections and 15,063 deaths, according to the Arizona Department’s COVID-19 dashboard.
After the number of cases and hospitalizations increased in the first part of January, it dropped in Arizona before the Thanksgiving level.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in state hospitals dropped to 1,941 on Tuesday, the lowest since November 21. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients has decreased to 593, the lowest since November 29th.
Arizona’s weekly percentage of positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indication of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has been declining every week since the beginning of the year.
Of the 90,406 people tested last week, 9% got a positive result, the lowest percentage since the end of October. The rate was 9% for 7,354 people tested so far this week.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the percentage for recent weeks may vary as laboratories are caught up in the test and the results are documented by the state.
According to the Associated Press, the Associated Press, the lowest point since Nov. 9, the seven-day average for the recently reported coronavirus cases was 1781.71 for Tuesday.
The average of seven days of newly reported deaths has remained stubbornly high since the beginning of February, but it took a sharp drop to 99.29 on Tuesday and fell below 100 for the first time since 5 January.
In Tuesday’s update of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona ranked third in the country for COVID-19 deaths per capita over the past seven days and in the 11th case.
The Arizona Department of Health’s daily updates provide the case, death, and testing data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which can be delayed by a few days or longer. It does not represent the actual activity during the last 24 hours.
The hospital data posted each morning is electronically reported the night before by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has no effect on some people and is severely debilitating or deadly to others. Infected people without symptoms – which include coughing, fever and breathing problems – can spread the virus.
Diagnostic tests are available in hundreds of locations in Arizona and should be sought by someone with symptoms or who has been exposed to an infected person. Information on places, schedules and registration can be found on the website of the Department of Health Services.
For more information on the availability of vaccines across the country, visit the ADHD website for a vaccine finder page with a map of locations and registration information.
Below are Wednesday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- The Arizona Department of Health Services reported that 1,291,053 of the 1,395,300 allocated COVID-19 vaccine doses administered by the state were administered, an increase of 63,782 from the previous day. That leaves the state with just 104,247 unused shots until next week’s award.
- Worldwide, there were approximately 109.61 million COVID-19 cases and 2.42 million deaths as of Wednesday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were about 27.76 million cases and 488,000 deaths.