Arizona reports about 500 new COVID-19 cases, 30 new deaths as other metrics improve

Arizona reported about 500 new COVID-19 cases and 30 new known deaths Wednesday, as hospitalizations continue to decline and the percentage of tests coming back positive remains steady at a relatively low level.

Hospitalization metrics such as patient counts, ventilators in use and ER visits for COVID-19 have been trending downward for about eight weeks, with several metrics back down to levels from April, according to hospital data reported to the state. 

Identified cases rose to 206,541 and known deaths totaled 5,251, according to the daily report by the Arizona Department of Health Services. The 30 new known deaths reported on Wednesday represent the new deaths identified by the state Health Department that day, but many occurred days and weeks prior. Daily new case reports have fluctuated between about 80 and 1,100 daily new cases over the past three weeks.

Wednesday's dashboard shows 79% of inpatient beds and 75% of ICU beds in use, which includes people being treated for COVID-19 and other patients. COVID-19 patients are using 8% of all inpatient beds and 12% of ICU beds. Overall, 28% of ventilators were in use.

Most people who get the disease are not hospitalized. The state does not report the number of recovered cases, although it does report hospital discharges.

For much of the pandemic, testing did not keep up with the virus' spread, but the state worked to expand testing and reduce results turnaround time, which had been up to two weeks or longer for some tests, even through July. Sonora Quest, the state's largest test processor, reports it has cleared its backlog of tests and is returning most results within two days.

The number of weekly tests conducted dropped significantly in July and into August. 

Of known test results from the past three weeks, 4% have come back positive, according to the state, which has a unique way of calculating percent positivity. Johns Hopkins University calculates Arizona's seven-day moving average of percent positives at 6.4% and shows it has generally trended downward in recent weeks but is now possibly plateauing and increasing slightly. A positivity rate of 5% is considered a good benchmark that the spread is under control. 

Here's what you need to know about Wednesday's new numbers.

Reported cases in Arizona: 206,541

• Cases increased by 496, or 0.24%, from Tuesday's 206,045 identified cases since the outbreak began.
• County cases: 136,324 in Maricopa, 22,071 in Pima, 12,344 in Yuma, 10,086 in Pinal, 5,661 in Navajo, 3,769 in Mohave, 3,409 in Coconino, 3,375 in Apache, 2,779 in Santa Cruz, 2,386 in Yavapai, 1,847 in Cochise, 1,148 in Gila, 766 in Graham, 518 in La Paz and 58 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.
• The rate of cases per 100,000 people is highest in Yuma County, followed by Santa Cruz County, Navajo and Apache counties.
• The Navajo Nation reported 9,903 cases and 527 confirmed deaths as of Tuesday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
• The Arizona Department of Corrections said 2,425 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, including 915 in Tucson; 38,341 inmates have been tested out of a population of about 39,000; 11,990 test results are pending. Twelve incarcerated people have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with 15 additional deaths under investigation. 
• While race/ethnicity is unknown for 34% of cases, 30% of cases are Hispanic or Latino, 23% of cases are white, 6% are Native American and 3% are Black.
• Laboratories have completed 1,267,371 diagnostic tests for COVID-19, 12.2% of which have come back positive. The percentage of positive tests had increased since mid-May but began decreasing in July. It was 4% for tests that have come back so far from the last three weeks, according to state numbers, which leave out data from labs that do not report electronically.

Reported deaths: 5,251 known deaths 

• On Wednesday, 30 new deaths were reported, although many occurred days and weeks prior. 
• County deaths: 3,116 in Maricopa, 596 in Pima, 330 in Yuma, 225 in Navajo, 215 in Mohave, 191 in Pinal, 154 in Apache, 130 in Coconino, 79 in Yavapai, 64 in Cochise, 59 in Santa Cruz, 51 in Gila, 24 in Graham, 15 in La Paz and fewer than three in Greenlee.
• People aged 65 and older made up 3,749 of the 5,251 deaths, or 71%.
• While race/ethnicity is unknown for 11% of deaths, 42% of those who died were white, 30% were Hispanic or Latino, 11% were Native American and 3% were Black.

Hospitalizations at about eight weeks of downward trends

• Inpatients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 were at 658 on Tuesday, the same level of COVID-19 inpatients as in late April. Inpatient numbers have been trending downward for about eight weeks. Hospitalizations surpassed 3,000 daily for much of July and have decreased steadily since.
• ICU bed use for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients was at 203 beds in use on Tuesday, down slightly from the previous few days. ICU bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients is at its lowest level reported since early April. Occupied beds have seen gradual decreases over the past about eight weeks.
• Ventilator use for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients was at 111 on Tuesday, the lowest it's been since hospitals began reporting the data in early April. Ventilator numbers have generally been declining for nearly eight weeks, after hitting a record high 687 ventilators in use on July 16.
• Emergency department visits for patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 was at 843 on Tuesday. Generally, with a few exceptions, daily ER visits are gradually trending downward. Daily ER visits first surpassed 1,000 on June 16 and were above that level nearly every day since, until daily ER visits dropped below 1,000 on Aug. 9. The number since then has hovered around or below 1,000.
• The number of patients with suspected and confirmed positive COVID-19 discharged from hospitals was at 148 patients discharged on Tuesday. July saw relatively high discharge numbers, which generally have been decreasing since then.

Reach the reporter at Alison.Steinbach@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-4282. Follow her on Twitter @alisteinbach.

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