Arizona reports 1,991 additional COVID cases, 47 more deaths

Delta variant begins to slow, but Arizona not out of woods yet

Hospitalizations are still high and the virus is still killing dozens of Arizonans every day. Former state health director and current head of the Arizona Public Health Association, Will Humble, talks about the direction cases are going.

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona on Wednesday reported 1,991 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and 47 more deaths as virus-related hospitalizations increased.

The state’s pandemic totals increased to 1,139,627 cases and 20,721 deaths, according to the Department of Health Services’ coronavirus dashboard.

Virus-related hospitalizations rose to 1,751 as of Tuesday, up from a recent low of 1,663 on Oct. 14, the dashboard reported.

Arizona’s latest surge has slowed since peaking in late August and early September, according to several pandemic metrics tracked by the state.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, seven-day rolling averages of daily new cases and daily deaths both dropped during the past two weeks.

The rolling average of daily new cases decreased from 2,762.6 on Oct. 4 to 2,178 on Monday while the rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 41.6 to 37.8 during the same period.