Certified Medical Assistant Mario Rivera is applying a band-aid after administering a COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine to Anthony Banash at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on January 21, 2021 in Torrance, California. Banash was the first patient to receive the vaccine in the hospital. (Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for January 22, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Friday reported 8,099 new cases of coronavirus and 229 additional deaths due to COVID-19, pushing the pandemic to 700,000 and 12,000.
According to the COVID-19 dashboard of Arizona, the numbers drawn total moved to 708,041 infections and 12,001 deaths.
As of Thursday’s update of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Arizona has been leading the country in per capita cases for the past seven days, regaining the top spot for mortality. On Wednesday, Arizona was fourth in per capita deaths for the past seven days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state have been trending to a record level since the beginning of last week.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in Arizona dropped to 4,495 on Thursday, the lowest since Dec. 28. The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients dropped to 1,054, the second lowest since December 28th.
Across the country, COVID-19 patients suspect or confirm, on Thursday 52% of all inpatient beds and 58% of all ICU beds were admitted, both by 1 percentage point from the previous day.
Overall, indoor beds maintained 92%, and ICU beds opened slightly to 91%.
Arizona’s weekly percentage of positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indication of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has dropped since reaching an all-time high of 24% three weeks ago.
Of the 59,955 people tested this week, 21% got a positive result, with 1 point compared to the previous 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.
The seven-day moving average for the recently reported coronavirus cases from the state health department was 7,271.71 on Thursday.
The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths moved to 153 for Thursday, rising for the second consecutive day.
The state’s daily updates provide current case, death, and testing data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which may 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.
The department also has a vaccine finder page with a map of active and pending locations and registration information.
Below are Friday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- With the COVID-19 wave in Arizona slowing down for the first time in months, Banner Health will cautiously resume selection curiosities next week.
- US Representative David Schweikert from Arizona tells KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Morning News in Arizona he turned down the chance to be vaccinated for COVID-19 because ‘it felt creepy’ to use his position to move to the top of the line.
- The Navajo Nation reported 143 new cases of coronavirus and 14 additional deaths, bringing the documented total to 26,955 infections and 954 deaths.
- Worldwide, there were approximately 97.65 million COVID-19 cases and 2.09 million deaths as of Friday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were about 24.63 million cases and 410,000 deaths.