By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM AND GREENLEE COUNTIES – While the rest of the state continues to see more positive cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 – albeit at a slower pace – Graham and Greenlee counties are the only counties that have not reported any new positive tests in the past week.
Graham County has not had a new positive test since a student was exposed prior to March 12 to Pima Elementary School staff member, who contracted the virus after an out-of-state visit. Both the staff member and student were quarantined and both fully recovered without hospitalization.
In Greenlee County, a patient who came down with the virus after traveling outside the county recovered just as a family member tested positive. The family member has since recovered as well – both without any hospitalizations.
As of Wednesday morning, the Arizona Department of Health Services is reporting a total of 5,459 cases in Arizona since the pandemic began – an increase of 208 new cases from the previous day. The virus has killed 229 people in Arizona, with 21 new deaths reported on Wednesday.
Maricopa County leads the way in the number of positive tests with 2,846, followed by Pima County with 973, Navajo County – 527, Coconino County – 353, Pinal County – 283, Apache County – 235, Yavapai County – 73, Mohave County – 62, Cochise County – 31, Yuma County – 28, Santa Cruz County – 28, Gila County – 10, La Paz County – 6, Greenlee County – 2, and Graham County – 2.
Overall, 9 percent of those tested statewide have come up positive and the rate of fatalities is 3.19 out of 100,000, according to the ADHS. However, since a number of people who contract the virus are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms that don’t necessitate a visit to the doctor’s office, the death rate could actually be substantially lower than current numbers suggest.
As of Tuesday evening, Greenlee County has submitted 80 tests with six pending results. The San Carlos Apache Reservation is reporting 173 tests given with six pending as of the same day. So far, there have been zero positive tests on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Up north the outlook is grimmer, as cases on the Navajo Reservation continue to increase. As of Tuesday, the Navajo Reservation reported 1,321 positive cases and 45 deaths.
