COVID-19 Update: Yavapai County health officials report 182 new cases over weekend

(Independent stock photo)

(Independent stock photo)

COTTONWOOD — Yavapai County Community Health Services reported 182 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths over the weekend, according to a news release Monday.

The county has tested 142,743 residents for COVID-19 and there have been 25,356 positive cases and 617 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood reported 13 new COVID-19 patients, while the Yavapai Regional Medical Center reported 39. The Prescott VA reported three new COVID-19 patients.

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This COVID-19 dashboard is maintained by Yavapai County Community Health Services. It may not always reflect current updated numbers or match posted Arizona Department of Health Services data. For more county COVID-19 data visit https://www.yavapai.us/chs. For state data visit https://www.azdhs.gov/covid-19. (YCCHS/Courtesy)

STATE

Arizona health officials are reporting 2,020 new confirmed COVID-19 cases but no new deaths.

The Arizona Department of Health Services released its latest dashboard data Monday, Sept. 20. It brings Arizona's totals since the pandemic began to 1,068,823 cases and 19,513 deaths.

Hospitalizations decreased slightly from a day earlier and were 1,894 statewide as of Sunday.

Currently, 57.4% of the state's vaccine-eligible population — or more than 4.1 million people — has been at least partially vaccinated.

With the highly contagious delta variant driving up case counts, more live music venues around the state are requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

EFFECTIVE VACCINES

In the U.S., the highly transmissible Delta variant is driving an uptick in COVID-19 cases, primarily among the unvaccinated. But the good news is, as the weeks pass, more reports have been coming out about the effectiveness of the vaccines that are in use and the potential of those still in development, according to YCCHS spokesperson Terri Farneti.

“A head-to-head study of all three authorized coronavirus vaccines in the United States finds the Moderna vaccine is slightly more effective than Pfizer's in real-life use in keeping people out of the hospital, and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine comes in third, but still provides 71% protection,” Farneti said in a statement. “Researchers studied more than 3,000 people hospitalized between March and August. Moderna vaccine was 93% effective at keeping people out the hospital and that protection appears to be holding steady, with Pfizer’s vaccine providing 88% protection against hospitalization.”

But the researchers stressed that all three vaccines are still providing strong protection against people getting so sick that they end up in the hospital, Farneti said.

KIDS VACCINE?

Pfizer and BioNTech plan to ask regulators to give their COVID-19 vaccine emergency authorization for use in kids aged five and up, the companies said Monday, Sept. 20, after announcing the first set of promising results from a major vaccine trial in this age group.

In an article in Forbes magazine, they report that 5.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S. since the pandemic began, as of Sept. 9, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The rate of pediatric infections has been on a steep incline since July and in the first week of September at least 250,000 children tested positive, making up a quarter of all new cases.

Moderna is also investigating the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in kids younger than 12.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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