Increased tests not associated with school reopenings
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – After peaking in mid-July, the rate of new COVID-19 positive tests had decreased significantly in Graham County and throughout the state. However, just as the county looked to start to meet the state-mandated benchmarks for business reopening, a rash of 27 new positive tests popped up – with half of them coming from the San Carlos Apache Reservation.
The new positive tests include 14 from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, six from Safford, four from Pima, and three from Thatcher.
According to data from the Arizona Department of Health Services, Graham County had 95 positive tests the week of July 12 and 96 the week of July 19. The positive tests then tapered off to just 66 the week of July 26 and 60 for the week of Aug. 2. Additional information from the county shows the ADHS should have 59 listed for the week of Aug. 9 when that information comes out.
The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services (GCDHHS) had reported just 19 new tests this week, but on Thursday, an additional 27 tests were reported to increase the running weekly total to 46 with two more days to count. To date, the county has administered tests to 3,469 people with a total of 651 positives. The county lists 313 currently active cases, with 289 recovered cases, and 22 deaths, for a current recovered rate of about 44 percent. According to GCDHHS criteria, a positive test is not considered a recovered patient until they have 30 days symptom-free. Graham County has about 39,000 residents.
The current death-rate percentage of known positive tests is about 3.4 percent in Graham County. However, a number of people who get infected show little to no symptoms and do not end up getting tested, so the death rate is likely lower than the one that can be calculated. Additionally, those who have died have overwhelmingly been elderly patients with underlying health conditions.
According to the state’s database, Graham County’s positive test cases include 110 who are under 20 years of age, 287 between 20-44, 69 between 45-54, 66 between 55-64, and 118 who are 65 years old or older.
Greenlee County
The Greenlee County Health Department hasn’t had a new positive test result since Thursday, Aug. 6. As of Thursday, the department has administered tests to 983 people, with 911 being negative, 58 positives, and 14 results pending. The county lists 7 active cases, 49 recovered cases (84.5 percent current recovered rate), and two deaths. Greenlee County has about 10,000 residents.
Greenlee County only has a positive test rate of 4.7 percent but its rate of cases is 549 per 100,000 population (according to ADHS numbers). Greenlee County has met all three benchmarks for both in-person school and business reopening, however, that is not yet represented on the ADHS’ data page.
The breakdown of the Greenlee cases includes three under the age of 20, 34 between 20-44, nine between 45-54, seven between 55-64, and five who are 65 years old or older.
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 Thursday, the Tribe had reported administering tests to 5,568 people with 4,761 negative, 679 positives, and 128 results pending.
The Tribe lists 101 currently active cases, with 572 recovered cases (84 percent current recovered rate), and six deaths.
The area breakdown on the reservation includes Gilson Wash – 112 positive, 92 recovered, 18 active, two deaths; Peridot – 230 positive, 200 recovered, 26 active, four deaths; 7-Mile – 108 positive, 96 recovered, 12 active; Bylas – 179 positive, 140 recovered, 39 active; other areas – 50 positive, 44 recovered, six active.
Statewide
For the state, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 619 new cases Friday to bring the total to 196,899 for the state. It added just four new deaths Thursday (one of the lowest daily death counts) to bring the total fatalities due to COVID-19 to 4,688 in Arizona. The state has about 7.3 million residents.
The deaths by age group for the entire state include 3.354 who were 65 years old or older, 726 who were between 55-64, 322 who were between 45-54, 274 who were between 20-44, and 12 who were less than 20 years old. The state currently lists that 88 percent of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds across the state are in use, with just 22 percent being used by people with COVID-19.
Reported positive cases in the various counties include Maricopa County with 131,166 Pima County – 20,173, Yuma County – 12,009, Pinal County – 9,107, Navajo County – 5,489, Mohave County – 3,468, Apache County – 3,283, Coconino County – 3,222, Santa Cruz County – 2,718, Yavapai County – 2,221, Cochise County – 1,780, Gila County – 1,060, Graham County – 651, La Paz County – 495, Greenlee County – 57 (county lists it at 58).
