By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – Another Safford resident has lost their life due to a COVID-19 infection, according to the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services (GCDHHS). The new death puts Graham County’s total at 58 deaths attributed to COVID-19 for the course of the pandemic.
The Safford resident was in the 45-54 age group. No other information about the death was released. The death is the second from Safford in the same age group in the last week.
The GCDHHS also announced 45 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, with 34 of them coming from the Safford zip code, six from the Pima zip code (which includes Bylas and nearby areas), and five from the Thatcher zip code. Another 21 cases were reported to the Arizona Department of Health Services on Monday.
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry, its Safford state prisons have 394 confirmed cases of COVID-19 from its inmates with 195 inmates recovered. According to the Bureau of Prisons, FCI-Safford currently had 37 active cases from its inmates, with 593 recovered as of Sunday. It also lists 24 active cases from employees and three recovered.
The new positive tests pushed Graham County’s total to 4,382, with at least 2,640 listed as recovered, and 58 deaths.
Arizona has been reported as the hotspot of the world for new COVID-19 cases, and Graham County is in the upper third of counties with the most cases per population. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ COVID-19 Data Dashboard, Graham County was listed as having a percentage of 11,388 cases per 100,000 residents. Even with the most recent influx of cases in correctional facilities, however, Graham County is still behind Yuma County (14,421 per 100,000), Santa Cruz County (13,291 per 100,000), Apache County (12,079 per 100,000), and Navajo County (11,960 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 4,655 per 100,000, according to Thursday’s numbers from the ADHS, and the state average is 9,448 per 100,000.
Graham County’s demographics of cases include 663 under the age of 20, 2,106 between the ages of 20-44, 637 between the ages of 45-54, 475 between the ages of 55-64, 492 who are 65 years old or older, and nine who are unknown.
Greenlee County
Greenlee County added five COVID-19 cases on Sunday to increase its total to 491, with 351 recovered, 134 active cases, and six deaths.
As of Sunday, the Greenlee County Health Department has administered 4,260 tests, with 3,769 negative results, and 491 positive results.
Statewide
On Monday, the ADHS listed 5,400 new cases to bring its total for the pandemic to 679,282 in Arizona. The department removed one death attributed to COVID-19 on Monday, to bring the total for Arizona to 11,265 dead attributed to COVID-19.
The breakdown of total cases by county includes Maricopa with 421,551, Pima – 90,765, Pinal – 36,888, Yuma – 33,163, Mohave – 16,816, Yavapai – 14,839, Coconino – 14,066, Navajo – 13,494, Cochise – 9,643, Apache – 8,674, Santa Cruz – 7,066, Gila – 5,410, Graham – 4,382, La Paz – 2,042, and Greenlee – 483 (county lists it at 491).
