Thirty new COVID-19 cases put Graham County near 400

Graham County’s cases have quadrupled for the month of July; however statewide lists no deaths for Sunday

By Jon Johnson

SAFFORD – The total number of COVID-19 cases in Graham County has quadrupled since the start of July, and the month isn’t over yet.

On June 30, the county had just 96 cases, but after adding 30 new cases Sunday, it now totals 396 with no sign of slowing.

Sunday night, the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services reported 30 new positive tests, with 13 coming from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, 11 coming from Safford, three from Thatcher, two from Pima, and one from Fort Thomas.

To date, the county has administered tests to 2,495 people with a total of 396 positives. The county lists 307 currently active cases, with 83 recovered cases, and six deaths. According to the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center, there are eight locally hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Graham County has about 39,000 residents.

The ages of Graham County’s cases include 59 who are 20 years old or younger, 155 between 21-44, 54 between 45-54, 46 between 55-64, and 82 who are 65 years old or older. As of Saturday, five people were hospitalized at the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center due to COVID-19.

Greenlee County

The Greenlee County Health Department announced four new positive COVID-19 tests Sunday.

To date, Greenlee has administered tests to 878 people, with 725 being negative, 52 positives, and 101 results pending. The county lists 28 active cases, 22 recovered cases, and the two deaths. Greenlee County has about 10,000 residents.

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. On Sunday, the San Carlos Apache Tribe Department of Health & Human Services reported 13 new positive tests for the reservation.

To date, the Tribe has administered tests to 3,744 people with 2,898 negative, 400 positives, and 446 results pending.

The Tribe lists 156 currently active cases, with 242 recovered cases, and two deaths.

The area breakdown on the reservation includes Gilson Wash – 52 positive, 30 recovered, 21 active, one death; Peridot – 146 positive, 93 recovered, 52 active, one death; 7-Mile – 69 positive, 52 recovered, 17 active; Bylas – 99 positive, 48 recovered, 51 active; other areas – 34 positive, 19 recovered, 15 active.

Statewide

For the state, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 1,813 new cases Sunday to bring the total to 163,827 for the state. It reclassified a death previously attributed to COVID-19 to have the state’s first negative daily death total (-1) and lowered the total fatalities due to COVID-19 to 3,304 in Arizona. The state has about 7.3 million residents.

Reported positive cases in the various counties include Maricopa County with 109, 988, Pima County – 15,109, Yuma County – 10,434, Pinal County – 7,561, Navajo County – 5,079, Apache County – 2,930, Coconino County – 2,870, Mohave County – 2,725, Santa Cruz County – 2,517, Yavapai County – 1,599, Cochise County – 1,399, Gila County – 703, La Paz County – 463, Graham County – 396, Greenlee County – 54 (county officials have it at 52).