A dose of the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is being prepared for a vaccination event at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in South Los Angeles on March 11, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. The event was hosted by California health officials and FEMA. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now the third coronavirus vaccine to receive emergency approval for use in the United States. (Photo by Mario Tama / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and not just for March 12, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona public health officials reported 1,367 new coronavirus cases and 55 additional deaths from COVID-19 on Friday.
The state’s documented totals were updated to 831,832 coronavirus infections and 16,519 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The key state measures used to measure the extent of the pandemic continue to improve and are the lowest in recent months, and more than 20% of the Arizona population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The number of hospitalized patients confirmed or suspected of COVID-19 in state hospitals fell to 879 on Thursday, the lowest since October 31.
Arizona’s weekly positive test for COVID-19, an indicator of how widespread the virus is in the community, is at a five-month low.
Of the 33,923 people tested so far this week, 5% received a positive result. The rate for 77,971 people last week was 5%, the lowest since the beginning of October.
Official positivity rates are based on the time of sampling, not the time they are reported, so the percentage in recent weeks may fluctuate as laboratories are tested and the results are documented by the state.
The Arizona Department of Health’s daily updates present case, death, and test data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which may remain for a few days or more. It is not the actual activity of the last 24 hours.
Hospitalization data posted each morning is reported electronically the previous evening by hospitals across the state, as required by the executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has no impact on some and is severely debilitating or fatal to others. Asymptomatic infected people – which include, but are not limited to, cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – are able to spread the virus.
Diagnostic testing is available in hundreds of locations in Arizona and should be looked for by anyone with symptoms or who could have been exposed to an infected person. Information about locations, programs and registration can be found on the website of the Department of Health Services.
For details on the availability of COVID-19 vaccine nationwide, the ADHS website has a vaccine search page with a map of locations and information on registration and eligibility.
Below are the latest developments on Friday about the coronavirus pandemic across the country, country and world:
- Arizona health officials reported Friday that PV COVID-19, commonly referred to as the Brazilian version, was confirmed in three state test trials.
- The Navajo nation reported 19 new cases of coronavirus and three additional deaths, bringing the documented total to 29,930 infections and 1,215 deaths.
- Gov. Arizona’s Doug Ducey said KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show that the state can meet President Joe Biden’s goal of extending the eligibility of the COVID-19 vaccine to all adults by May 1, if the supply is sufficient.
- Thousands of front-line transit workers serving the Phoenix subway will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot at a private event this weekend.
- Globally, there have been approximately 118.7 million COVID-19 cases and 2.63 million deaths since Friday morning, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were around 29.29 million cases and 531,000 deaths.