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 Wednesday, Sept. 2.
Major updates:
- There have been 202,861 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 5,065 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona as of Wednesday.
- The state does not record how many people have recovered, but Johns Hopkins University estimates the number of people who have recovered.
- Scroll down to see how many cases are in each ZIP code and additional information.
COVID-19 cases reported in Arizona on Wednesday
There have been 202,861 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 5,065 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona, according to the state's latest numbers.
That is an increase from 202,342 cases and 5,044 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Tuesday.
A week ago, there were 199,459 cases and 4,896 deaths reported in Arizona.
LEER EN ESPANOL: Coronavirus en Arizona el 2 de septiembre: 519 casos nuevos y 21 muertes se reportan el miércoles
519 new cases, 21 new deaths reported Wednesday
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 519 new cases and 21 new deaths on Wednesday.
Arizona reached 200,000 coronavirus cases on Aug. 27, 100,000 on July 6 and 50,000 cases on June 21. The state reached 5,000 coronavirus deaths 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 0.81 as of Monday, the lowest in the nation.
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 5,479 cases reported on the collection date of June 29, the day with the most collected diagnoses so far. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of reported deaths was July 17, when 97 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.
Arizona releases guidance on long-term care facility visitation
The Arizona Department of Health Services adopted recommendations and posted the COVID-19 Guidance for Visitation at Congregate Settings for Vulnerable Adults and Children on August 28.
Resuming visitation depends on a facility’s implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and the level of community spread.
Long-term care facilities must implement mitigation policies by Friday and facilities that implement health and safety precautions can allow visitors as soon as this weekend.
Facilities in any stage can allow indoor visits if certain conditions are met, including:
- The visitor presents the facility a negative COVID test (either PCR or antigen) less than 48 hours old;
- The visitor signs an attestation that they have isolated in the time between the sample was taken and the visit and is free from symptoms;
- The facility limits contact as much as possible, including a dedicated visitation space;
- And more.
Maricopa County working to estimate how many people have been infected with COVID-19
The Maricopa County Department of Public Health is partnering with ASU and Mayo Clinic to estimate how many people in the county have been infected with COVID-19, beyond those who have tested positive for the disease.
The testing project announced Wednesday is called a serosurvey and involves collecting samples from volunteers in 29 local communities to better understand how many people have antibodies for COVID-19 in Maricopa County.
Executive Director of Public Health Marcy Flanagan discussed how the volunteer survey will take place and how members of the community will know if their neighborhood has been selected.
WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE HERE:
Maricopa and Pima counties could partially reopen schools
The Arizona Department of Health Services said Maricopa and Pima counties could move into a hybrid learning model on Thursday.
West Valley school district announces reopening plans
Dysart School District said it plans to reopen schools in two phases if the health benchmark data for the district continues to head in the right direction.
The district said it would reopen kindergarten through fourth grade and ninth grade on Sept. 14 and fifth through eighth and 10th through 12th grades the following week.
Email sent to parents at Queen Creek high school about COVID-19 exposure
Administrators at Eastmark High School in Queen Creek sent an email to some parents saying their student may have been exposed to COVID-19.
In the letter sent to parents, sent to 12 News anonymously, the school says it learned their student may have been exposed on Aug. 26 or Aug. 27. The school says it was notified on Aug. 28 and alerted the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, which investigated.
Phoenix school to host free community pantry Thursday
The V.H. Lassen Elementary School will open a community pantry on Thursday.
It will aim to help families in the south Phoenix community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pantry will be open to students in south Phoenix and their families every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Items will include non-perishable food items, cleanliness and health supplies, including face masks and sanitizer, and fresh produce when available.
Expiration date of some Arizona licenses delayed
Gov. Doug Ducey's office announced Tuesday that standard driver licenses that have an expiration date between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 will be delayed by one year from their original expiration date.
All Arizona law enforcement officers as well as state government agencies, county and municipal governments and election officials will accept Arizona driver license cards with expiration dates between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 as valid identification.
Drivers may see their updated driver license expiration date at AZMVDNow.gov.
NAU starts in-person classes
Northern Arizona University has reopened for in-person classes Monday, welcoming students for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic closed the Flagstaff campus in March.
The Arizona Daily Sun reported that the announcement came three weeks after the university began its academic year online.
As of Monday, 29,594 students were enrolled in classes across all the NAU campuses, with more than 6,000 students living in university-owned residence halls.
Some faculty members have continued to raise concerns about the return to campus as Coconino County health officials reported an additional 55 cases last week, increasing the total to 3,205 confirmed virus cases.
The above article is from the Associated Press.
Navajo Nation reports zero recent COVID-19 deaths
The Navajo Department of Health reported nine new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and no recent deaths.
The total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 9,830.
The total number of deaths remains 503 as previously reported on Monday.
Reports indicate that 7,102 individuals have recovered from COVID-19 and 95,423 COVID-19 tests have been administered.
The Navajo Nation will have a partial weekend lockdown starting Saturday at 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday.
The lockdown will continue for the weekends of Sept. 12-14, Sept. 19-21, and Sept. 26-28. The daily curfew hours will remain in effect from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
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.
RELATED: Arizona’s health department wants you to report businesses that don’t enforce safety requirements
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) 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 Wednesday
There have been 202,861 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 5,065 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona.
That is an increase from 202,342 cases and 5,044 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Tuesday.
There were 519 new cases reported on Wednesday, an increase from the 507 new cases reported on Tuesday.
There were 21 new deaths reported on Wednesday, an increase from the 15 new deaths reported on Tuesday.
There were 5,479 cases reported on the collection date of June 29, the day with the most collected diagnoses so far. That is subject to change.
Health officials said the day with the highest number of reported deaths was July 17, when 97 people died. That is subject to change.
In total, 5,547 new tests were reported on Wednesday, an increase from the 4,954 new tests reported on Tuesday.
There have been a total of 1,480,756 PCR and Serology tests reported to the state as of Wednesday.
11.5% of those tests have been positive as of Wednesday, the same as Tuesday.
Here's a county breakdown:
- Maricopa: 134,346
- Pima: 21,294
- Pinal: 9,690
- Coconino: 3,346
- Navajo: 5,625
- Apache: 3,351
- Mohave: 3,651
- La Paz: 498
- Yuma: 12,264
- Graham: 735
- Cochise: 1,830
- Santa Cruz: 2,732
- Yavapai: 2,324
- Gila: 1,117
- Greenlee: 58
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.
