Arizona’s pandemic death toll reached 18,000 on Tuesday as the state reported 21 additional deaths along with 900 more confirmed COVID-19 cases after the three-day July 4 holiday weekend.
As of Sunday, Arizona ranked 12th highest among U.S. states in total COVID-19 deaths since Jan. 21, 2020 and sixth highest in the number of deaths per 100,000 of population, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state on Monday reported no additional deaths after only four on Sunday when Johns Hopkins University data put the state’s seven-day rolling average of daily deaths at 9.4, down from 10.7 on June 20.
Arizona’s pandemic case total reached 897,910 on Tuesday.
The state reported only 50 additional cases Monday but previously topped 400 additional cases daily since June 22.
The state’s coronavirus dashboard reported that the vaccination rate — the percent of population administered at least one dose — was 49.8% as of Tuesday. Of those nearly 3.6 million people, 3,174,161 were fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to rescind its emergency declaration for COVID-19 while the state’s declaration of emergency remains in place.
The board declared an emergency in March 2020 during the onset of the pandemic.
Supervisors told the Arizona Daily Star that mandatory masking and social distancing protocols are no longer enforced by the county’s Health Department.
The board cited a rising vaccination rate, the efficacy of the vaccines and an increased availability of medical services as reasons for rescinding the emergency declaration.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
