Banner Health says Arizona continues downward trend of COVID-19 numbers

Banner Health officials say COVID-19 metrics in Arizona continue to trend downward, but we're not out of the woods just yet.

PHOENIX - Banner Health delivered some good news on Wednesday, Feb. 3, about what it's dealing with on the COVID-19 front.

Health care workers say Arizona is continuing a gradual decline in COVID-19 numbers. Which is good, but of course, we are still not out of the woods during this surge.

"We continue to see a gradual decline in COVID-19 metrics in Arizona," says Dr. Marjorie Bessel, Chief Clinical Officer at Banner Health.

As of Feb. 3, the state's seven-day average positivity rate is at 16%, which is 8% lower than what it was at the peak of this current surge.

Coronavirus in Arizona: Latest case numbers

MORE: How to sign up and schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment

Part of the reason for this decline, Bessel says, is because people aren’t gathering as much as they were during the holidays. Health care workers hope people learned from this with Super Bowl Sunday coming up.

"Any gatherings of individuals you don’t live with offers the opportunity for spread to occur," she explained.

But there is still work to be done. Bessel says Banner’s ICU rooms are still incredibly busy with higher occupancy than Arizona's summer surge.

Arizona is still one of the leading states in the nation when it comes to cases per capita.

"Personal accountability is so important. We cannot let our guard down, we should not get too optimistic about our cases declining," Bessel said, emphasizing to be extra caution due to the COVID-19 variant being in Arizona.

Arizona COVID-19 resources, FAQ: azdhs.gov/coronavirus

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