More than 1,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported In Arizona Tuesday for the first time.
ABC15 Data Guru Garrett Archer analyzes the daily coronavirus reports coming from the Arizona Department of Health Services. There were 21,250 total cases, with 1,127 new cases reported Tuesday.
Archer said the new cases did not come from a single day of testing. They were partial results spread over about a week-long period of testing. Depending on the lab used, test results can take between one and nine days to appear on the ADHS website.
“Also of note, there is an increase of the percentage of case that are testing positive,” Archer said.
Governor Doug Ducey often uses percent positive tests as a key measure of the trajectory of the disease. When he announced plan to reopen the state in early May, five percent of diagnostic tests came back positive. This week the test results are nine percent positive.
Coronavirus epidemiological modelers has predicted within three weeks of businesses reopening, case numbers could increase due to additional coronavirus transmission.
“Sadly, we are not entirely in control of this thing yet; it’s still prevalent in the community,” Archer said.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported Arizona had the highest percent increase in new cases last week, when compared to the other 49 states and Washington, D.C.
Other data show more Arizonans are getting sick and need treatment. Inpatient coronavirus bed use also topped 1,000 for the first time Tuesday.
“We’re seeing stabilization to an extent in the urban communities, and then in these rural, especially these southern rural counties, we are starting to see an explosion in the growth of COVID,” Archer said.
Yuma and Santa Cruz counties have become hotspots.
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