Total cases at 4,832 with 2,957 recovered and 65 deaths for the course of the pandemic
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – On Tuesday, the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services (GCDHHS) announced the death of a Thatcher resident attributed to COVID-19. The new deaths put Graham County’s total for the pandemic at 65.
The Thatcher resident was in the 65 and older age group. No more information regarding the deaths was immediately released. The death marks the seventh death for Graham County due to COVID-19 in the last week and the 14th death in January.
However, the GCDHHS announced a reduction of one case of COVID-19 on Tuesday due to a reconciliation with the Arizona Department of Health Services, and no new cases were reported for Thursday.
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Recovery and Release, its Safford state prisons have 647 confirmed cases of COVID-19 from its inmates with 306 inmates listed as being recovered as of Tuesday. According to the Bureau of Prisons, FCI-Safford currently has five active cases from its inmates, with 622 recovered. It also lists 11 active cases from employees and 23 recovered.
The reduction of one positive test reduced Graham County’s total to 4,832, with 2,957 listed as recovered, 1,810 currently active, and 65 deaths.
Arizona has been reported as the hotspot of the world for new COVID-19 cases, and Graham County is the fourth highest county with the most cases per population. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 Data Dashboard, as of Monday, Graham County was listed as having a percentage of 12,558 cases per 100,000 residents. Even with the most recent influx of cases in correctional facilities, however, Graham County is still behind Yuma County (15,021 per 100,000), Santa Cruz County (13,835 per 100,000), and Apache County (12,927 per 100,000), and is just in front of Navajo County (12,515 per 100,000) in the rate of transmission per population. Conversely, Greenlee County – where there are no correctional facilities – has the lowest rate in Arizona with 4,944 per 100,000, according to Tuesday’s numbers from the ADHS, and the state average is 10,191 per 100,000.
Graham County’s demographics of cases include 684 under the age of 20, 2,365 between the ages of 20-44, 730 between the ages of 45-54, 519 between the ages of 55-64, 525 who are 65 years old or older, and nine who are unknown. The state, Graham, and Greenlee counties are all in the “substantial” status for all three metrics on both the business dashboard and schools dashboard.
Testing Centers
Graham County will have a free saliva testing blitz at the Graham County Fairgrounds on Friday, Jan. 29, from 7 a.m. – 1 p.m. Click here for more information.
Embry Women’s Health provides free, drive-through COVID-19 testing at Victory Fellowship Church at 555 Entertainment Ave., seven days a week from 8 a.m – 4 p.m. Click here for more information.
Greenlee County
Greenlee County added three new COVID-19 cases on Monday to increase its total to 516, with 401 recovered, 109 active cases, and six deaths.
As of Monday, the Greenlee County Health Department has administered 4,496 tests, with 3,980 negative results, and 516 positive results.
The health department also announced Monday that it was opening registration for the COVID-19 vaccine to all residents who are at least 18 years of age. Click here for more details.
Statewide
On Tuesday, the ADHS listed 7,748 new cases to bring its total for the pandemic to 732,643 in Arizona. The department also listed 209 new deaths on Tuesday, to bring the total for Arizona to 12,448 dead attributed to COVID-19.
The breakdown of total cases by county includes Maricopa with 455,830, Pima – 98,034, Pinal – 40,533, Yuma – 34,543, Mohave – 18,528, Yavapai – 15,929, Coconino – 14,894, Navajo – 14,120, Cochise – 10,248, Apache – 9,283, Santa Cruz – 7,355, Gila – 5,824, Graham – 4,832, La Paz – 2,177, and Greenlee – 513 (county lists it at 516).
