PHOENIX — In an effort to track the changes with the coronavirus outbreak in Arizona, 12 News has started a daily live blog.
Here is the live blog for Friday, Feb. 26.
Major updates:
- There have been 814,528 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15,897 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona as of Friday.
- There have been 1,660,857 total vaccines administered as of Friday.
- The state does not record how many people have recovered, but Johns Hopkins University estimates the number of people who have recovered.
- You can find COVID-19 testing sites here.
- Go to 12News.com/Vaccine to find more information on the COVID-19 vaccines.
- Scroll down to see how many cases are in each ZIP code and additional information.
- Arizona to open another state-run COVID-19 vaccination site
COVID-19 cases reported in Arizona on Friday
There have been 814,528 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15,897 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona, according to the state's latest numbers.
That's an increase from the 812,907 confirmed cases and 15,814 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
A week ago, there were 804,116 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15,421 deaths reported in Arizona.
1,621 new cases, 83 new deaths reported Friday
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 1,621 new cases and 83 new deaths on Friday.
The department did not say whether the high death count reported Friday was due to death certificate matching.
Arizona has administered 1,660,857 total vaccines COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Friday.
The department reports the number of new cases on the day the cases were reported to them by counties and hospitals, not on the day when someone was diagnosed with the virus.
There are 196 hospitalizations per 1 million in Arizona as of Thursday, down from 206 on Wednesday, according to The COVID Tracking Project. You can find more data from the project here.
There were 12,184 cases reported on the collection date of Jan. 4, the day with the most collected diagnoses so far. The day with the second-most collected diagnoses so far was on Dec. 28, with 11,642 cases. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of deaths was Jan. 18, when 169 people died. The day with the second-highest number of deaths was Jan. 13, when 164 people died. That is subject to change.
Arizona reached 800,000 coronavirus cases on Feb. 17, 700,000 on Jan. 22, 600,000 on Jan. 9, 500,000 on Dec. 28, 400,000 on Dec. 12, 300,000 on Nov. 23, 200,000 on Aug. 27, 100,000 on July 6 and 50,000 cases on June 21.
The state reached 15,000 coronavirus deaths on Feb. 17, 14,000 on Feb. 6, 13,000 on Jan. 29, 12,000 on Jan. 22, 11,000 on Jan. 15, 10,000 on Jan. 9, 9,000 on Jan. 1, 8,000 on Dec. 22, 7,000 on Dec. 9, 6,000 on Nov. 3, 5,000 on Aug. 29, 4,000 on Aug. 6, 3,000 deaths on July 23, 2,000 on July 9 and 1,000 on June 5.
Health officials continued to stress that people should continue social distancing, wearing masks in public, and stay home when possible.
Here is the latest on COVID-19 in Arizona on Friday morning
Team 12's Trisha Hendricks has everything you need to know about COVID-19 in Arizona on Friday morning, Feb. 26.
Arizona to open another state-run COVID-19 vaccination site
The Arizona Department of Health Services will open a state-operated COVID-19 vaccination site at the Chandler-Gilbert Community College in the East Valley.
It will begin operating as a state-run location on March 3. Appointments for first and second doses will open for registration at 9 a.m. March 1.
“We’re committed to making the COVID-19 vaccine accessible to all Arizonans. Keeping this successful vaccination site open and operating is an important step,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement.
“Arizona has called on the federal government to provide our state with more vaccine doses. As more supply becomes available, we’ll be ready to administer the vaccine and protect Arizonans.”
The vaccination site at Chandler-Gilbert Community College used to be run by Maricopa County, which announced it would be closed next week.
The department said it has worked with partner organizations to develop a plan to keep the location open.
Dignity Health, which currently manages the site with Maricopa County, will close its operations after Feb. 27, and the department will reopen it four days later.
At full capacity, the department said the site will have a similar capacity to State Farm Stadium at 12,000 vaccines per day and can be operated 24/7.
Due to the limited amount of vaccine allocated to the state, this site will initially operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will continue to provide the Pfizer vaccine.
You can make an appointment here.
Valley high school district to offer second doses to educators, childcare providers
The Phoenix Union High School District will offer the second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during an event this weekend.
The second vaccine dose will be offered to all K-12 educators and childcare providers in both the Phoenix Union and Tempe Union high school districts.
It will be offered at Carl Hayden Community High School, Central High School, Cesar Chavez High School and Maryvale High School from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
There will be both walk-up and drive-thru appointments.
All K-12 public, charter, and private school employees and childcare workers in both districts will be eligible for both their first and second dose.
Coconino County now giving COVID-19 vaccines to jail inmates
Coconino County sheriff’s officials say COVID-19 vaccinations now are being administered to jail inmates.
The county Detention Facility Medical Unit has completed Arizona Department of Health Services training which certifies the Sheriff’s Office medical staff to administer the doses.
The county jail quarantines all new inmates for 14 days upon arrival prior to testing for the coronavirus.
So far, sheriff’s officials say 180 inmates and 35 detention staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
Navajo Nation reports 45 new COVID-19 cases, 9 more deaths
Navajo Nation health officials on Thursday reported 45 new confirmed COVID-19 cases with nine additional deaths.
The latest numbers bring the total number of cases on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah to 29,655 since the pandemic began.
There have been 1,161 reported deaths that were related to COVID-19.
The Navajo Department of Health on Monday identified 21 communities with uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Feb. 5-18.
That’s an increase from last week’s 15 communities, but down from 75 communities with uncontrolled coronavirus spread last month.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
Here is the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines in Arizona
The Arizona Department of Health Services said more than 1.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered as of Friday.
Who can get a COVID-19 vaccine?
The state and each county is offering vaccines to people in Phase 1B. Gila County has extended vaccines to some people in Phase 1C. Learn more about the phases here.
How can I sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine?
You can sign up for a vaccine through the state here or find more information about finding up through the counties here.
Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccine?
There are four locations where the state is administering vaccines: State Farm Stadium, Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Chandler-Gilbert Community College and University of Arizona's Tucson campus. All other locations are run through the individual counties or federal programs.
Where can I find more information on a COVID-19 vaccine?
You can find more vaccine information at 12News.com/Vaccine.
COVID-19 data dashboard now includes vaccine information
The Arizona Department of Health Services updated its COVID-19 data dashboard to include information including vaccination numbers and demographic data.
The new information can be found on the dashboard in the tab right next to the summary tab where daily coronavirus cases, deaths, and testing numbers are updated.
You can see the updated dashboard here.
Arizona health department sets up hotline to report businesses
The Arizona Department of Health Services has set up two ways for people to report local businesses that are not following COVID-19 guidelines.
People can report businesses through a hotline or through an online form:
- Submit a complaint online at www.azhealth.gov/complianceCOVID19
- Calling the COVID-19 Compliance Hotline at 1-844-410-2157
“There’s a role for the public as well: If you believe a business isn’t following these requirements, which were established for the safety of customers, employees, and the broader public, ADHS encourages you to share your concerns so local and state officials can follow up as needed,” AZDHS said in a statement.
Free masks available for some Arizonans
The Arizona Department of Health Services announced that some Arizonans would be able to get free masks from the state.
The department partnered with Hanes to provide free face masks to Arizona’s most vulnerable populations.
Anyone who is part of a vulnerable population (including, but not limited to, individuals with medical conditions or individuals age 65 or older), a student (or parents on behalf of students), school staff member or who may not be able to purchase one is able to get a free mask.
Each other will provide five washable, reusable cloth face masks, one order per household.
The department hopes to give out two million cloth face masks.
Anyone with questions can visit the department's FAQs page or contact Hanes at 1-800-503-6698.
Arizona releases ZIP code locations of coronavirus cases, other data
The Arizona Department of Health Services has released expanded data points regarding coronavirus cases in the state.
The AZDHS website now features the location of confirmed cases in Arizona by zip code.
You can see the current ZIP code map here and can find yours by clicking around or searching for your ZIP code in the top right of the map.
More information on coronavirus cases from Friday
There have been 814,528 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 15,897 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona.
That's an increase from the 812,907 confirmed cases and 15,814 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
There were 1,621 new cases reported on Friday, an increase from the 939 new cases reported on Thursday.
There were 83 new deaths reported on Friday, a decrease from the 121 new deaths reported on Thursday.
There were 12,184 cases reported on the collection date of Jan. 4, the day with the most collected diagnoses so far. The day with the second-most collected diagnoses so far was on Dec. 28, with 11,642 cases. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of deaths was Jan. 18, when 169 people died. The day with the second-highest number of deaths was Jan. 13, when 164 people died. That is subject to change.
In total, 12,489 new tests were reported on Friday, an increase from the 11,712 new tests reported on Thursday.
There have been a total of 4,177,262 PCR and Serology tests reported to the state as of Friday.
14.2% of those tests have been positive as of Friday, the same since Feb. 19.
Here's a breakdown of the number of cases reported in each county:
- Maricopa: 508,997
- Pima: 109,137
- Pinal: 46,003
- Coconino: 16,485
- Navajo: 15,555
- Apache: 10,441
- Mohave: 21,110
- La Paz: 2,392
- Yuma: 36,392
- Graham: 5,286
- Cochise: 11,145
- Santa Cruz: 7,626
- Yavapai: 17,009
- Gila: 6,392
- Greenlee: 558
Click on the links below to find more information from each county's health department:
COVID-19 is believed to be primarily spread through coughs or sneezes.
It may be possible for the virus to spread by touching a surface or object with the virus and then a person touching their mouth, nose or eyes, but this is not thought to be the main method of spread, the CDC says.
You should consult your doctor if you traveled to an area currently affected by COVID-19 and feel sick with fever, cough or difficulty breathing.
The best way to prevent COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases is to:
- Wear face coverings while in public.
- Practice social distancing while in public.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
You can text FACTS to 602-444-1212 to receive more information on the coronavirus and to ask questions.
