PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona health officials on Friday reported 619 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and four additional deaths, increasing the state’s totals to 196,899 cases and 4,688 deaths.
COVID-19-related hospitalization metrics posted by the Department of Health Services continued to trend downward and were at levels last seen in early June before Arizona became a national hot spot. Case and death reports have dropped sharply in the past month.
Seven-day rolling averages of cases and deaths in Arizona continued to decline over the past two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University data analyzed by The Associated Press.
The rolling average of new daily cases dropped from 1,836 on Aug. 6 to 784 on Aug. 20, and the rolling average of deaths per day dropped from 64 on Aug. 6 to 43 on Aug. 20.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested. Studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
In other developments Friday, a chain of fitness centers that has been battling with Gov. Doug Ducey over his orders forcing gyms, bars and theaters to close announced it would reopen next week.
Mountainside Fitness announced on Twitter that it would reopen its metro Phoenix locations even though its application with the Department of Health Services has not been approved. The announcement said “it is vital to us that all MSF members have the ability to workout as well as access to childcare, and all MSF employees have their jobs.”
The governor’s office didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
The health department has received applications from more than 1,000 businesses seeking to reopen, and it approved 47 through Thursday. They include six bars serving food, 37 gyms and four theaters, while 200 other applications were denied and the rest were pending.
Mountainside owner Tom Hatten sued Ducey and won an order requiring the governor to provide a way for closed businesses to apply for reopening. The state unveiled a plan Aug. 10 allowing gyms to apply to reopen at a limited capacity and with health precautions once the spread of the virus within their county is downgraded to moderate or minimal.
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