A COVID-19 patient, placed in a ventilator, is resting in the St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California. unprecedented case charges. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for January 8, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 11,658 new cases of coronavirus and 197 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Friday.
It was the third largest daily death report, with the top three since Tuesday.
The state’s documented total has shifted to 596,251 COVID-19 infections and 9,938 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health’s dashboard.
As of Thursday, Arizona had the second highest number of coronavirus cases, which fell to second place behind New Jersey after a few days, and the third highest death rate per capita nationally in the past seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. .
Hospitals in Arizona still saw record numbers or near-record numbers of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients.
The number of COVID-19 hospitals in Arizona in Arizona dropped to 4,907 on Thursday, 13 below the record set a day earlier and the second most ever.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU beds in the state rose to 1,122, 21 more than the point set a day earlier.
Across the country, COVID-19 patients suspect or confirm 57% of all beds included in the survey and 63% of all ICU beds.
Overall, in-bed beds were 93% full, which corresponds to the pandemic highs. Only 131 ICU beds were unused.
Arizona’s weekly percentage of positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indication of how much the virus spreads in the community, is the highest it has ever been.
So far this week, 26% of the 70,526 people tested have achieved a positive result. The positive percentage was a record 25% last 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 health department was 9,198 for Thursday, the highest ever and for the first time above 9,000, according to the Associated Press.
The average of seven days of the newly reported COVID-19 deaths was 125.29 for Thursday, more than 20 higher than the previous day’s record.
The state’s daily updates provide the 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 by 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.
Below are Friday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- Worldwide, there were approximately 88.2 million COVID-19 cases and 1.9 million deaths as of Friday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were about 21.59 million cases and 365,000 deaths.