By Jon Johnson
PHOENIX – The saying goes that it’s always darkest before the dawn and healthcare providers across the state are hoping that holds true for the fight against the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
The state of Arizona surpassed 500,000 total COVID-19 positive tests on Monday when an additional 10,086 cases were reported bringing the total for the pandemic to 504,423. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have begun distribution in Arizona.
For Graham County, the number of active cases had dropped below 1,000, but that lasted only a day and the number is now at 1,006.
According to the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services, the county saw an increase of 23 new positive tests on Sunday and an additional 28 on Monday to increase the total for the pandemic to 3,137. Out of those, 2,083 are listed as being recovered, and there have been 48 deaths attributed to COVID-19, most being those over the age of 65.
Out of the new cases reported Sunday and Monday, 40 came from Safford, eight from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, two from Thatcher, and one from Pima.
To date, the ages of those who have been infected in Graham County include 580 under the age of 20, 1,391 between the ages of 20-44, 412 between the ages of 45-54, 345 between the ages of 55-64, and 402 who are 65 or older.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ metrics, both Graham County and the entire state of Arizona is in the “substantial transmission” spread for the virus on both the business and school dashboards. Despite that, Governor Doug Ducey has replied that tactics have changed and believes most of the spread has come from other areas than from businesses, so he has declined to shutter businesses due to the metrics. Additionally, schools are recommended to go to distance-only learning, but that is at their own discretion.
Greenlee County
As of Sunday, the Greenlee County Health Department has administered 3,523 tests, with 3,135 negative results, and 388 positives.
The county currently lists 157 active cases, with 228 recovered cases, and three deaths.
Statewide
On Monday, the ADHS listed 10,086 new cases to bring its total for the pandemic to 504,423 in Arizona. The department also listed 42 new deaths on Monday, to bring the total for Arizona to 8,469 dead attributed to COVID-19.
The breakdown of total cases by county includes Maricopa with 309,737, Pima – 67,360, Yuma – 26,946, Pinal – 26,388, Mohave – 11,799, Navajo – 11,067, Coconino – 10,852, Yavapai – 10,772, Apache – 7,255, Cochise – 7,236, Santa Cruz – 5,798, Gila – 4,347, Graham – 3,137, La Paz – 1,347, and Greenlee – 382 (county lists it at 388).
