PHOENIX — 12 News continues to track the changes with the coronavirus outbreak and vaccination efforts in Arizona with our daily live blog.
Here is the live blog for Friday, March 19.
Major updates:
- There have been 835,030 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 16,691 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona as of Friday.
- There have been 2,748,100 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.
COVID-19 cases reported in Arizona on Friday
There have been 835,030 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 16,691 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona, according to the state health department data.
That's an increase from the 834,607 confirmed cases and 16,645 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
A week ago, there were 831,832 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 16,519 deaths reported in Arizona.
LEER EN ESPANOL: Coronavirus en Arizona el 19 de marzo: 423 nuevos casos, 46 muertes se reportan el viernes
423 new cases, 46 new deaths reported Friday
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 423 new cases and 46 new deaths on Friday.
Friday was the seventh day in a row that the department reported less than 1,000 new cases each day.
Seven-day rolling averages of daily new cases and daily declines declined over the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations also continued to drop, with 686 patients occupying inpatient beds as of Thursday.
That’s still above hospitalization levels during the trough between the summer and fall-winter surges but far below the Jan. 11 high of 5,082.
Arizona has administered 2,748,100 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 were 12,402 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 Jan. 5, with 11,757 cases. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of deaths was Jan. 18, when 171 people died. The day with the second-highest number of deaths was Jan. 13, when 169 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 16,000 coronavirus deaths on on March 2, 15,000 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.
More vaccine appointments in Arizona will be available on Friday
The Arizona Department of Health Services said tens of thousands of new COVID-19 vaccine appointments would be ready to be scheduled on Friday.
Appointments can be scheduled at the ADHS website starting at 11 a.m., Friday, March 19.
The appointments will happen at state-run mass vaccination sites from March 22 to 28.
ADHS announced that more vaccine appointments will consistently be available every Friday morning.
Pinal County to offer vaccinations to those 18 years and older
Pinal County, Arizona's third-most populous county, will soon offer COVID-19 vaccines to anyone 18 years or older beginning Friday.
The shot will only be open for people who live or work within Pinal County.
The change only applies to county vaccine locations and doesn't apply to state or federal-run locations.
Mohave County to give COVID-19 vaccines to residents 55 years and older
Mohave County officials announced Friday that it would expand its COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents aged 55 and older.
County officials said it was able to expand eligibility because it will receive more vaccines next week.
The county will receive 10,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week, an increase of 2,000 doses from recent weeks.
The county will also be getting 500 doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
County Health Director Denise Burley said “the time has come" to expand eligibility to that population.
"We’re excited to get the increase in allocation and we decided to move ahead immediately today," Burley said.
"Our providers are ready to accept appointments for this younger age group.”
If you are a Mohave County resident and want to schedule an appointment, you can do so here: https://www.mohavecounty.us/ContentPage.aspx?id=127&cid=1444&page=2&rid=2230
Arizona to launch state-supported COVID-19 vaccine site in Yuma
The Arizona Department of Health Services will launch a state-supported COVID-19 vaccination site in Yuma later this month.
The department is partnering with Yuma County, the city of Yuma and Yuma Regional Medical Center to launch the site at the Yuma Civic Center.
The site will launch on March 29 and will expand the capacity and hours of operation at the existing site to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
It will offer around 8,000 appointments per week to start but is able to administer more than 4,000 doses per day.
“Arizona’s vaccination sites have been instrumental in the state’s work to protect communities and vulnerable populations,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement.
“We want to make sure rural areas have easy access to vaccinations, and operations at the Yuma site will support those efforts.”
Maricopa County community colleges to allow spectators at some events
The Maricopa County Community College District said spectators will be allowed at outdoor games and matches starting Monday.
Spectators will need to wear face coverings and practice social distancing.
Each of the athletic programs will have varying levels of spectator access due to the differences in the physical layout of the facilities.
Maricopa County begins providing vaccinations to inmates
Arizona's most populous county on Thursday began providing COVID-19 vaccinations to willing jail inmates who are 55 or over.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office announced that the county Correctional Health Services Department received 400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the county Public Health Department earlier this week for administration to inmates.
The sheriff's office said the county’s five jails have 318 inmates who are 55 or older.
Also Thursday, the state announced the availability of 5,000 COVID-19 vaccination appointments at two large state-run sites in metro Phoenix and reported 284 additional confirmed cases and 59 more deaths.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
Navajo Nation nears 30K COVID-19 cases since pandemic began
The Navajo Nation on Thursday reported six more deaths and 18 new cases of COVID-19 as the total number of cases approaches the 30,000 mark since the pandemic began.
The latest numbers pushed the tribe’s pandemic total to 29,987 confirmed cases and 1,228 known deaths.
The Navajo Nation had a soft reopening Monday with 25% capacity for some businesses under certain restrictions.
Still, mask mandates and daily curfews remain.
Tribal President Jonathan Nez is strongly urging all residents to limit their travel to only essential activities.
He says now is not the time to go on vacation or to hold large in-person gatherings on the reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
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 2.7 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 835,030 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 16,691 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona.
That's an increase from the 834,607 confirmed cases and 16,645 coronavirus-related deaths reported on Thursday.
There were 423 new cases reported on Friday, an increase from the 284 new cases reported on Thursday.
There were 46 new deaths reported on Friday, a decrease from the 59 new deaths reported on Thursday.
There were 12,402 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 Jan. 5, with 11,757 cases. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of deaths was Jan. 18, when 171 people died. The day with the second-highest number of deaths was Jan. 13, when 169 people died. That is subject to change.
In total, 30,451 new diagnostic tests were reported on Friday, an increase from the 29,133 new tests reported on Thursday.
There have been a total of 8,250,038 diagnostic tests reported to the state as of Friday.
11.1% of those tests have been positive as of Friday, the same since Tuesday.
Here's a breakdown of the number of cases reported in each county:
- Maricopa: 520,919
- Pima: 111,582
- Pinal: 48,593
- Coconino: 16,916
- Navajo: 15,589
- Apache: 10,753
- Mohave: 21,794
- La Paz: 2,426
- Yuma: 36,651
- Graham: 5,350
- Cochise: 11,475
- Santa Cruz: 7,708
- Yavapai: 18,244
- Gila: 6,467
- Greenlee: 563
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.
Coronavirus facts you should know
For the latest news about COVID-19, including doctor responses to questions about the coronavirus, watch our 12 News YouTube Playlist here.