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Coronavirus in Arizona on Aug. 12: 706 cases, 148 deaths reported Wednesday

There have been 189,443 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,347 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona as of Wednesday.

PHOENIX — Editor's note: Here's the live blog for Aug. 13.

In an effort to track the changes with the coronavirus outbreak in Arizona, 12 News has started a daily live blog.

Here is the live blog for Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Major updates: 

  • There have been 189,443 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,347 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona as of Wednesday.
  • The state does not record how many people have recovered, but Johns Hopkins University estimates the number of people who have recovered.
  • Scroll down to see how many cases are in each ZIP code and additional information.

COVID-19 cases reported in Arizona on Wednesday

There have been 189,443 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,347 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona, according to the state's latest numbers.

That is an increase from 188,737 cases and 4,199 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Tuesday.

A week ago, there were 182,203 cases and 3,932 deaths reported in Arizona.

LEER EN ESPANOL: Coronavirus en Arizona el 12 de agosto: 706 casos y 148 decesos se reportan el miércoles

706 new cases, 148 new deaths reported Wednesday

The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 706 new cases and 148 new deaths on Wednesday.

The death toll reported on Wednesday was the second-highest in the state: The department reported 172 new deaths on July 30. The department said 96 of the deaths reported Wednesday were from death certificate matching.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases topped 189,000 on Wednesday. The state's total death toll also topped 4,300.

Arizona reached 100,000 coronavirus cases on July 6 and 50,000 cases on June 21. The state reached 3,000 coronavirus deaths on July 23, 2,000 deaths on July 9 and 1,000 on June 5.

Arizona's Rt, pronounced r-naught, was at 0.82 as of Monday, the lowest in the nation. 

The Rt is essentially a mathematical number that shows whether more people are becoming infected or less.

The concern is that any Rt over 1, no matter how small, means the virus may grow exponentially.

RELATED: This is the number that health officials are watching closely in the fight against COVID-19 (And you should too)

There were 5,482 cases reported on the collection date of June 29, the day with the most collected diagnoses so far. That is subject to change.

Health officials said the day with the highest number of reported deaths was July 17, when 93 people died. That is subject to change.

Health officials continued to stress that people should continue social distancing, wearing masks in public and stay home when possible.

Some Arizona districts moving to start in-person learning

A few Arizona school districts are moving to begin in-person learning next Monday over the objections of some teachers. Some parents and students are cheering the decision. 

The board of the Queen Creek Unified School District outside Phoenix voted on Tuesday to resume in-person learning. 

The J.O. Combs Unified School District in nearby San Tan Valley voted Monday to begin offering in-person instruction. 

Both districts said they would continue to provide online learning. 

Educators had asked the Queen Creek board to stick with education online until Maricopa County met public health benchmarks included in voluntary guidelines issued by the state last week.

The above article is from The Associated Press. 

RELATED: Arizona school districts announce changes for 2020-2021 school year

Navajo Nation cases up by 19, no new deaths

The Navajo Department of Health reported 19 new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and no recent deaths.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases is 9,334 and negative tests total 72,270.

The total number of deaths remains 473 as previously reported on Monday. 

6,893 individuals have recovered from COVID-19. 

86,258 COVID-19 tests have been administered.

Free masks available for some Arizonans

The Arizona Department of Health Services announced that some Arizonans would be able to get free masks from the state.

The department partnered with Hanes to provide free face masks to Arizona’s most vulnerable populations.

Anyone who is part of a vulnerable population (including, but not limited to, individuals with medical conditions or individuals age 65 or older) is able to get a free mask.

Each other will provide five washable, reusable cloth face masks, one order per household. 

The department hopes to give out two million cloth face masks. 

Anyone with questions can visit the department's FAQs page or contact Hanes at 1-800-503-6698.

Sign up for the free masks here.

Arizona releases ZIP code locations of coronavirus cases, other data

The Arizona Department of Health Services has released expanded data points regarding coronavirus cases in the state. 

The AZDHS website now features the location of confirmed cases in Arizona by zip code. 

You can see the current ZIP code map here and can find yours by clicking around or searching for your ZIP code in the top right of the map.

More information on coronavirus cases from Wednesday

There have been 189,443 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,347 coronavirus-related deaths reported in Arizona.

That is an increase from 188,737 cases and 4,199 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Tuesday.

There were 706 new cases reported on Wednesday, a decrease from the 1,213 new cases reported on Tuesday.

There were 148 new deaths reported on Wednesday, an increase from the 45 new deaths reported on Tuesday.

There were 5,482 cases reported on the collection date of June 29, the day with the most collected diagnoses so far. That is subject to change.

Health officials said the day with the highest number of reported deaths was July 17, when 93 people died. That is subject to change.

In total, 7,834 new tests were reported on Wednesday, an increase from the 9,482 new tests reported on Tuesday.

There have been a total of 1,284,786 PCR and Serology tests reported to the state as of Wednesday. 

12.3% of those tests have been positive as of Wednesday, down from 12.4% on Tuesday. 

Here's a county breakdown:

  • Maricopa: 127,188
  • Pima: 18,508
  • Pinal: 8,555
  • Coconino: 3,130
  • Navajo: 5,408
  • Apache: 3,212
  • Mohave: 3,250
  • La Paz: 486
  • Yuma: 11,641
  • Graham: 559
  • Cochise: 1,732
  • Santa Cruz: 2,675
  • Yavapai: 2,065
  • Gila: 976
  • Greenlee: 57

Click on the links below to find more information from each county's health department: 

COVID-19 is believed to be primarily spread through coughs or sneezes. 

It may be possible for the virus to spread by touching a surface or object with the virus and then a person touching their mouth, nose or eyes, but this is not thought to be the main method of spread, the CDC says. 

You should consult your doctor if you traveled to an area currently affected by COVID-19 and feel sick with fever, cough or difficulty breathing. 

There is no vaccine for the coronavirus, so the best way to prevent COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases is to:

  • Wear face coverings while in public.
  • Practice social distancing while in public.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
  • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently-touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

You can text FACTS to 602-444-1212 to receive more information on the coronavirus and to ask questions.

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