PHOENIX — Arizona reported over 2,000 new COVID-19 infections Saturday for the first time in nearly five months amid a continuing increase in the state’s rolling average of new cases and more virus-related hospitalizations.
The additional 2,066 cases and 22 deaths increased Arizona’s pandemic totals to 927,235 cases and 18,246 deaths. Arizona on March 5 reported 2,276 additional cases.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, Arizona’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases rose over the past two weeks from 898 to 1,577 while the daily deaths average declined from 13 to 11.4.
The number of virus patients occupying hospital beds topped 1,000 for the third straight day, with 1,106 as of Friday, double the number one month earlier on June 30 and. the most since March 2.
Public health officials in Arizona and elsewhere attribute the worsening spread to the very contagious delta variant and low vaccination rates. Arizona’s case numbers and hospitalizations remain below peaks during surges last summer and winter.
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“Unlike last summer when we were headed into school w/ declining rates, the match has been lit and the kindling is aflame this time,″ Dr. Joe K. Gerald, a University of Arizona researcher who tracks COVID-19 data, said on Twitter.
