More Than 1,700 New COVID Cases In Pima County: Most Since Peak

TUCSON, AZ — As COVID-19 peaks yet again in Arizona, Pima County reported more than 1,700 new cases on Friday, along with six new deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

In Arizona, 14,888 cases were reported on Friday, along with 30 deaths.

Pima County saw 1,614 new cases for specimens collected on Jan. 3, the largest one-day total since the largest spike in cases through the entire pandemic last winter. The largest one-day case count so far in Pima County was 1,733, on Jan. 4, 2021.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors reinstated an indoor mask mandate in the county Dec. 21 in response to rising COVID-19 case and death counts in the county.

These numbers put Arizona back where it was a year ago in terms of case counts, when cases in the state hit the biggest peak of the pandemic, soon before vaccines started to become available to the general public.
The largest number of cases reported in Arizona for specimens collected in a single day so far in the pandemic was Jan. 3, with 13,533 cases. The 14,888 cases reported Friday account for cases with specimens collected on more than one day.

Arizona also saw the largest number of people visiting the emergency room for COVID-19 this week that it has seen since the start of the pandemic. On Wednesday, 2,371 people visited Arizona emergency rooms to be treated for COVID-19 or what they suspected was COVID, according to the state health department. The last daily emergency room visit record of 2,341 was set more than a year ago on Dec. 19, 2020.

While emergency room visits have increased, the number of people being treated as inpatients in Arizona hospitals is still nowhere near last winter's peak. The most people hospitalized in any one day for COVID-19 in Arizona was 5,082 on Jan. 11, 2021. As of Friday, 2,562 patients were hospitalized in the state for COVID, around half as many as at the peak. Hospitalizations have not gotten anywhere near last winter's peak since they started to decrease in February 2021.

The Arizona Department of Health Services recommends that everyone who has symptoms get tested. The department also advises getting tested 5-7 days after being exposed to someone who tested positive or who is suspected of having COVID-19. Click here to find a testing provider.

Looking at just the month of November in Arizona, people who were unvaccinated were 31.1 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people who were fully vaccinated, according to a state department of health report. The unvaccinated were also 4.9 times more likely to test positive for the virus.

This significant increase from October numbers, when the unvaccinated were 15.2 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and 3.9 times more likely to test positive, can at least partially be attributed to the department's change in methodology to capture more accurate numbers for those who are fully vaccinated, the department said.

The increase might also be impacted by an increase in people getting their booster shots.

"If you remain undecided about getting the vaccine, the data makes a strong case for getting a lifesaving shot that can spare you from severe illness, long-haul COVID, and more," said Arizona Department of Health Services Interim Director Don Herrington in a Jan. 5 report.

The local and state health departments, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending that everyone who is eligible and finished their initial vaccinations five or more months ago get their booster shot.

The CDC earlier this week expanded recommendations for booster shots to include those aged 12-18.