Coconino County moved to a medium community level for COVID-19 the week ending Oct. 22, according to the latest reports, as both COVID and monkeypox case counts continued to rise.
New COVID admissions rose to 10.5 per 100,000, above the 10.0 per 100,000 threshold for a medium level. Last week it was at 8.4 per 100,000. The percent of staffed in-patient beds occupied by COVID patients rose to 5% this week (from 4.5% last week), remaining at a low level.
Case counts rose for the second week in a row to 203 (a rate of 142.3 per 100,000) from 157 the week ending Oct. 15 (110.0 per 100,000). Positivity rates also continued to rise to 16.2% from 13.7% the week before. The number of COVID tests conducted in the country increased slightly from 1,118 to 1,302.
County residents aged 65 and older had the highest case rate (277 per 100,000) and positivity (21.2%) for the week, followed by those between the ages of 5 and 17 (a positivity rate of 20.0%).
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Hospitalizations increased this week (19 from 14 the week ending Oct. 15), as did the incidence of COVID-like illness in county hospitals (to 8% from 6.8% the week before). One COVID-related death was reported this week, after two weeks with no deaths.
Coconino County also added to its monkeypox cases again this week. A total of seven cases have been reported in the county as of Oct. 24 (from six the week before).
Across the United States, 28,244 total monkeypox cases have been confirmed as of Thursday, compared to 27,835 the prior week. A total of 538 were reported in Arizona (523 the week before), according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
Coconino County Health and Human Services is continuing to encourage residents to stay up-to-date on vaccinations for both COVID and the flu. It is safe to receive both vaccinations at the same time.
“People should follow the recommended schedule for either vaccine,” it posted on social media. “If you haven’t gotten your currently recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine, get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can and ideally get a flu vaccine by the end of October.”
Information about COVID in Coconino County, including vaccination and testing locations, is available at coconino.az.gov/2294/COVID-19-Information. Monkeypox information can be found at coconino.az.gov/monkeypox.
