County has seen nearly a death per day for the past 10 days
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – The sudden increase in deaths from COVID-19 in Graham County continues.
On Friday, the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services announced two new deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the past two days. That makes nine new deaths in the past 11 days.
The new deaths bring the county’s total for the pandemic to 135. The health department also announced 48 new confirmed cases from the past two days, increasing the total of currently active cases to 855.
For the course of the pandemic, Graham County has had 8,603 total confirmed cases, with 7,613 recoveries, 855 currently active cases, and 135 deaths. Graham County has a COVID-19 death rate of 1.57 percent per confirmed case.
The biggest age group affected has been those 20-44 with 3,963 cases, followed by those under 20 with 1,543 cases, those 45-54 with 1,215 cases, those 55-64 with 925 cases, those 65 and older with 922 cases, and 35 unknown.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, Graham County has a COVID-19 rate of 22,259 per 100,000 population. That is good for the worst rate out of any of Arizona’s 15 counties, with the next closest being Navajo County with a rate of 22,060 per 100,000 population and Apache County with a rate of 21,480 per 100,000 population.
Conversely, despite a recent uptick in cases, Greenlee County has the lowest rate of cases by county in the state with 13,330 per 100,000 population. Greenlee is followed by Cochise County with 14,006 cases per 100,000 population and Yavapai County with 14,278 cases per 100,000 population. The state’s average is 17,835 cases per 100,000 population.
While some cases are asymptomatic or improve within a week or two, other cases have lingered with mild to severe effects for months and even more than a year, while it proves fatal to others. While those who have already had the virus and survived likely have natural antibodies to fight the virus from quickly returning, for those who have not had the virus the best way to avoid catching it is to be vaccinated.
The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services offers free vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. Now, children 5 and up can receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and adults can have any of the three. The department is now also offering booster shots. The health department provides the vaccine Mondays from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m., Thursdays from 2 – 5 p.m., and the Pfizer vaccine for those 5 and older on Thursdays from 5 – 7:30 p.m. and Fridays from 2 – 5 p.m. Click here to register to receive a vaccine.
Greenlee County
The Greenlee County Health Department reported three new cases on Thursday to put its current total at 1,430 for the course of the pandemic, with 1,212 recoveries, 196 active cases, and 22 deaths.
Greenlee County is offering the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone ages 5 and up and also has booster shots for those over the age of 18.
