Contributed Photo: More than 60 students at EAC were tested for COVID-19 on Monday night by the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services.
Graham County received 25 new positives Monday to put total to 694 for the pandemic
By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – More than 60 students from Eastern Arizona College were tested for COVID-19 on Monday night, according to the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services. The results of those tests are currently pending.
According to EAC Director of Marketing Kris McBride, the students tested were athletes as part of of the college’s strict screening protocol to protect the teams and those who work with them.
The same day, the county reported 25 new positive tests had already come back from the state for Graham County, pushing its total for the pandemic to 694. Graham County had been averaging about 60 new positive tests per week for the past three weeks. However, with the 25 new positives in one day and if a large number of positives come out of the college, the county’s numbers will be skewed upward, keeping businesses that are currently shuttered closed in accordance with the executive order by Governor Doug Ducey.
As of Monday, Graham County had tested 3,624 people with 694 positives. The county currently lists 363 active cases, 309 recovered cases, and 22 deaths. According to health department criteria, a case is not considered recovered until a person is symptom-free for 30 days.
Graham County currently has a total percent positivity rate of about 10 percent. The breakdown of cases includes 119 under the age of 20, 305 between 20-44, 74 between 45-54, 73 between 55-64, and 122 who are 65 years or older.
Greenlee County – Down to just three active cases
In stark contrast to Graham County, Greenlee County hasn’t had a new positive test for COVID-19 since Aug. 6.
As of Monday night, the Greenlee County Health Department has tested 1,013 people, with 934 negatives, 58 positives, and 21 results pending. It listed 53 recovered cases, with three currently active cases and two deaths.
San Carlos Apache Tribe
The San Carlos Apache Tribe stretches into both Graham and Gila counties and its cases add to the respective counties’ cases based on the geography of where the patients reside.
As of Monday morning, the Tribe has reportedly tested 5,837 people, with 4,993 negative results, 733 positives, and 111 tests pending. The San Carlos Apache Tribe Department of Health & Human Services lists 111 active cases, with 616 recovered and six deaths.
The area breakdown on the reservation includes Gilson Wash – 116 positive, 98 recovered, 16 active, two deaths; Peridot – 247 positive, 216 recovered, 27 active, four deaths; 7-Mile – 112 positive, 97 recovered, 15 active; Bylas – 204 positive, 161 recovered, 43 active; other areas – 54 positive, 44 recovered, 10 active.
Statewide
For the state, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 859 new cases Tuesday to bring the total to 199,273 for the state. It added 21 new deaths Tuesday to bring the total fatalities due to COVID-19 to 4,792 in Arizona. The state has about 7.3 million residents.
The deaths by age group for the entire state include 3,424 who were 65 years old or older, 740 who were between 55-64, 331 who were between 45-54, 284 who were between 20-44, and 13 who were less than 20 years old. The state currently lists that 87 percent of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds across the state are in use, with just 19 percent being used by people with COVID-19.
Reported positive cases in the various counties include Maricopa County with 132,290, Pima County – 20,919, Yuma County – 12,085, Pinal County – 9,232, Navajo County – 5,523, Mohave County – 3,534, Apache County – 3,309, Coconino County – 3,264, Santa Cruz County – 2,728, Yavapai County – 2,259, Cochise County – 1,798, Gila County – 1,083, Graham County – 694, La Paz County – 496, Greenlee County – 58.
Editor’s note: The headline of this article was changed to avoid confusion over testing at EAC.
