Arizona reported an astonishing 12,314 new positive COVID-19 cases Tuesday.
Tuesday reports are often high because of weekend lags in lab results. But this is far more cases than the state has ever reported in a single day.
The 12,314 cases are nearly 20% higher than the previous record, set just last week. And these recent reports far exceed summer records. Arizona’s highest report from July was 4,877 cases.
Since lab processing times vary, daily reports reflect new test results from tests performed over the past several days, not just from the previous day. State data currently show the days when the highest numbers of Arizonans took a positive test were the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday following Thanksgiving.
Arizona has been performing more tests recently than ever before. The state reports the positivity rate among those tests was about 18% as of last week. During the summer peak of the virus in Arizona, the state reported a high of 21% positivity. While the current positivity rate remains below that record, it has been steadily climbing since October.
