Arizona on Wednesday reported 830 new COVID-19 cases and 78 deaths, ending a two-day period that saw no additional deaths confirmed at a time when coronavirus numbers are slowing.
The latest figures from the Department of Health Services increased the state’s pandemic totals to 828,630 confirmed cases and 16,404 deaths.
The number of hospitalizations continued to drop, with COVID-19 patients occupying 868 beds as of Tuesday, down from 925 on Monday and about a sixth of the pandemic peak of 5,082 on Jan. 11.
Meanwhile, Dr. Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, said laboratory data shows a recent rise in the rate of positive tests that have a COVID-19 variant first identified in Britain. It peaked on March 8 with 20 of every 100 positive tests showing a genetic pattern for that variant.
Public health experts say the variant first found in the United Kingdom is more contagious and may carry a higher risk of death.
LaBaer said the variant is not predominant in Arizona but it’s a minority strain that’s growing.
“It’s a little bit of a race between getting vaccines in arms and seeing that variant emerge,” LaBaer told reporters.
He said the latest figures indicate only about 10% of Arizona’s population has been fully vaccinated. But with vaccine supply ramping up, LaBaer thinks it’s possible that by mid-July the state could reach “herd immunity,” when enough people are protected through infection or vaccination to make it difficult for the virus to keep spreading.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
