The number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Arizona continues to rise.
In an effort to track the changes, 12 News has started a daily live blog.
Here is the live blog for Monday, July 13.
Major updates:
- There have been 123,824 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 2,245 deaths reported in Arizona as of Monday morning.
- 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 Monday
There have been 123,824 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Arizona and 2,245 coronavirus-related deaths, according to the state's latest numbers.
That is an increase from 122,467 cases and 2,237 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Sunday.
A week ago, there were 91,858 cases and 1,810 deaths reported in Arizona.
EN ESPANOL: Coronavirus en Arizona el 13 de julio
More than 1,300 new cases, 8 deaths reported Monday
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported more than 1,300 new cases and eight new deaths on Monday.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases topped 123,000, a week after reaching the 100,000 mark.
Arizona reached 50,000 coronavirus cases on June 21. The state reached 1,000 coronavirus deaths on June 5.
There were 5,330 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 June 25, when 51 people died. That is subject to change.
Arizona also reported all-time highs in the use of ventilators and beds in intensive care units for coronavirus patients.
The state Department of Health Services posted that 671 COVID-19 patients were on ventilators and 936 were occupying ICUs as of Sunday.
Hospitals were hovering around 90% capacity.
Health officials continued to stress that people should continue social distancing, wearing masks in public and stay home when possible.
School board leaders and medical professionals call on Gov. Ducey to delay in-person school openings to October 1
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey was called out at a press conference held by school board leaders and medical professionals on Monday, where they asked the governor to delay in-person classes in the state's schools until at least October 1.
Speakers at the conference said that Gov. Ducey has displayed a lack of leadership and has failed to recognize scientific data. They also called out Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ, saying she has failed medical professionals across the state.
The speakers also asked the governor and the state to extend policies to help schools, students, and their families during this time, including the full funding of distance learning programs, a suspension of standard statewide assessments, and to extend school lunch programs.
In response to the press conference, the office of the governor said it would communicate with the education community to decide when it's best to re-open schools.
"Our approach since this virus started has been to work with the education community," the office said. "We’re listening and will be working with Superintendent Hoffman and other education leaders on how and when it’s best to safely re-open schools."
You can read more about what the school leaders and medical professionals asked for here.
Navajo Nation cases grow by 45, five more deaths
The Navajo Department of Health reported 45 new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and five more deaths.
The total number of COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation is 8,187.
The total number of deaths has reached 401 as of Sunday.
Reports from all 12 health care facilities on and near the Navajo Nation indicate that approximately 5,856 individuals have recovered from COVID-19.
64,128 people have been tested for COVID-19.
More than 60 Phoenix firefighters test positive for virus
The Phoenix Fire Department had more than 60 positive COVID-19 cases among firefighters.
Phoenix Fire is the nation’s fifth largest fire department with 60 fire stations serving Arizona’s largest city.
As of Tuesday, the department had reported 62 positive COVID-19 cases among firefighters.
Another 100 members out of 1,585 are quarantined awaiting their results and seven civilian members have also tested positive.
Every third day, city firefighters report to duty for at least 24 hours and share a fire station with a variety of people while sleeping, eating and living together.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
Arizona will use experimental drug to help COVID-19 patients
Gov. Doug Ducey says Arizona will be getting 361 cases of the experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir, which appears to help patients with COVID-19 recover faster.
The drug received emergency approval in May by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The shipment comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Arizona deals with a surging number of coronavirus cases.
Arizona became one of the nation’s coronavirus hot spots in May after Ducey relaxed stay-home orders and other restrictions.
The above article is from The Associated Press.
Masks now required in public
Gov. Doug Ducey allowed individual Arizona cities to create their own policies about face-covering requirements and enforcement on Wednesday.
A face covering has proven to be effective at limiting the spread of COVID-19, according to the CDC. The virus is primarily spread by in-person contact through sneezes and coughs.
Many cities, including Phoenix, have adopted their own mask requirement that is now in effect.
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 Monday
There have been 123,824 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Arizona and 2,245 coronavirus-related deaths.
That is an increase from 122,467 cases and 2,237 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Sunday.
That's an increase of 1,357 new cases reported on Monday, a decrease from the 2,537 new cases reported on Sunday.
There were eight new deaths reported on Monday, a massive decrease from the 86 deaths reported on Sunday.
There were 5,330 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 June 25, when 51 people died. That is subject to change.
In total, 7,514 new tests were reported on Monday, a decrease from the 14,239 new tests reported on Sunday.
There have been a total of 899,994 PCR and Serology tests reported to the state as of Monday.
11.9% of those tests have been positive, an increase from 11.8% on Sunday.
Here's a county breakdown:
- Maricopa: 81,216
- Pima: 11,856
- Pinal: 5,627
- Coconino: 2,475
- Navajo: 4,355
- Apache: 2,580
- Mohave: 1,831
- La Paz: 410
- Yuma: 8,384
- Graham: 207
- Cochise: 1,062
- Santa Cruz: 2,186
- Yavapai: 1,156
- Gila: 446
- Greenlee: 33
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.
