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, Jan. 29.
Major updates:
- There have been 748,260 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 13,022 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona 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.
COVID-19 cases reported in Arizona on Friday
There have been 748,260 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 13,022 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona, according to the state's latest numbers.
That's an increase from the 743,232 confirmed cases and 12,819 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
A week ago, there were 708,041 cases and 12,001 deaths reported in Arizona.
LEER EN ESPANOL: Coronavirus en Arizona el 29 de enero: 5,028 nuevos casos, 203 muertes se reportan el viernes
5,028 new cases, 203 new deaths reported Friday
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 5,028 new cases and 203 new deaths on Friday.
The state recorded an additional 1,000 deaths in a week.
The department did not say whether the high death count reported Friday was due to death certificate matching.
COVID-19 related hospitalizations and the state’s seven-day rolling averages of new known daily cases and daily deaths have slowed recently, but hospital officials this week urged Arizonans against becoming complacent about mask wearing and social distancing.
Arizona has given 554,760 COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Wednesday. More than 85,000 people have received both doses.
The department said all the vaccine appointments for February are booked at both state-run sites. It was not immediately known when appointments for March would be made available.
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.
Arizona reached 700,000 coronavirus cases 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 13,000 coronavirus deaths on 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.
Arizona's Rt, pronounced r-naught, was at 0.96 on Tuesday, up from 0.95 on Monday.
The Rt is essentially a mathematical number that shows whether more people are becoming infected or less.
The concern is that any Rt over 1, no matter how small, means the virus may grow exponentially.
There were 11,952 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 11,568 cases. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of deaths was Jan. 5, when 140 people died. The day with the second-highest number of deaths was Jan. 9, when 138 people died. That is subject to change.
Health officials continued to stress that people should continue social distancing, wearing masks in public, and stay home when possible.
AARP wants Arizona to prioritize seniors in COVID-19 vaccine distribution
Distributing COVID-19 vaccines in Arizona has faced a number of issues, especially for our state's senior population. Team 12's Jen Wahl has the latest.
Navajo Nation reports error in hardship assistance checks
The Navajo Nation says about 120,000 checks have been issued to tribal members who applied for hardship assistance amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The tribal controller's office says the total includes 370 checks that were duplicated because of a printer server failure.
Controller Pearline Kirk says office personnel are planning to contact applicants affected by the error with more information.
Staff also will void duplicate checks that haven't been processed.
The hardship assistance program is paid for by a portion of the $714 million the Navajo Nation received from a federal coronavirus relief bill.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
Navajo Nation reports 11 COVID-19 deaths, reaches 1,000 mark
Navajo Nation health officials on Thursday reported 11 more COVID-19 deaths to reach the 1,000 mark since the pandemic began.
They also reported 59 new coronavirus cases to bring the total reported cases on the reservation to 27,987.
On Monday, the tribe extended its stay-at-home order with a revised nightly curfew to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The Navajo Department of Health has identified 53 communities with uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, down from 75 communities in recent weeks.
The Navajo Nation also is lifting weekend lockdowns to allow more vaccination events.
The actions in the latest public health emergency order will run through at least Feb. 15. The Navajo Nation extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
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 748,260 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 13,022 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona, according to the state's latest numbers.
That's an increase from the 743,232 confirmed cases and 12,819 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
There were 5,028 new cases reported on Friday, an increase from the 4,671 new cases reported on Thursday.
There were 203 new deaths reported on Friday, an increase from the 176 new deaths reported on Thursday.
There were 11,952 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 11,568 cases. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of deaths was Jan. 5, when 140 people died. The day with the second-highest number of deaths was Jan. 9, when 138 people died. That is subject to change.
In total, 14,777 new tests were reported on Friday, a decrease from the 15,526 new tests reported on Thursday.
There have been a total of 3,839,400 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 Wednesday.
Here's a breakdown of the number of cases in each county:
- Maricopa: 465,875
- Pima: 100,272
- Pinal: 42,052
- Coconino: 15,021
- Navajo: 14,229
- Apache: 9,482
- Mohave: 18,883
- La Paz: 2,214
- Yuma: 34,871
- Graham: 5,050
- Cochise: 10,365
- Santa Cruz: 7,400
- Yavapai: 16,096
- Gila: 5,934
- Greenlee: 516
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.
There is no vaccine for the coronavirus, so 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.
