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Coconino County sees one-week decline in COVID-19 cases

Coconino County Health Department in Flagstaf, Arizona. (Loretta McKenney/WGCN)

Coconino County Health Department in Flagstaf, Arizona. (Loretta McKenney/WGCN)

Northern Arizona Healthcare reported there were 166 patients at Flagstaff Medical Center May 18, with 26 COVID-19 patients. The ICU had 40 patients.

Verde Valley medical Center had 42 patients May 18 with no positive COVID-19 patients. The ICU held six patients.

The Arizona Department of Health reported that across the state there have been 14,170 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 686 deaths as of May 18.

Coconino County

Coconino County saw the first weekly decline of positive COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Weekly positive cases in Coconino were down 28 cases from 162 the week of May 9 to 134 the week of May 16.

There have been 863 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Coconino County and 64 deaths. In the greater Williams area cases remain between one and five. The state does not release specific numbers for zip codes with less than 10 cases.

United States

Across the United States, including the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, there have been a total of 1,480,349 cases of coronavirus. There have been 89,407 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States.

Testing blitz

The latest numbers come the weekend after the Arizona Department of Health Services began a two-week extension of a “testing blitz” for COVID-19. The extension started on Saturday with more than 70 sites in at least nine counties participating in the weekend event.

Meanwhile, Ducey’s restrictions on businesses began to ease May 8 as barber shops and salons were allowed to re-open. Starting May 11, restaurants and coffee shops were allowed to offer dine-in options.

Navajo Nation cases continue to rise

The Navajo Department of Health said there are 4,002 known coronavirus infections across the reservation as of May 9 and 140 people have died.

The Navajo reservation is continuing with 57-hour weekend curfews to help stem the spread of the virus. This includes all residents except essential workers, first responders and health care workers. Residents can leaves in cases of safety, health or medical emergencies. Anyone needing essential items such as food, water or livestock feed can call (928)871-6271 for assistance.

Federal rental assistance problems

Arizona Department of Housing data shows more than 10,000 renters have submitted applications seeking help from a program designed to help people hurt economically by the coronavirus pandemic.

But the Arizona Republic reports that less than 400 renters statewide have received money from the emergency program or 8% of the funding with more than $4.6 million sitting unused.

Only $395,000 has been approved so far, the newspaper reports.

If funds continue to be distributed at the same rate as in the early weeks, it could take about a year to allocate all the money.

Resources

Weekday COVID-19 testing is available at Fort Tuthill County Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Coconino County assistance for rent, electric, gas, wood, water and propane available at (928) 679-7300.

• Coconino County WIC offers all services online or by phone to existing or new clients, (928) 679-7272.

• State of Arizona employment & financial assistance resources:https://arizonatogether.org/ and en español: https://arizonatogether.org/es/

COVID-19 health hotlines

• Coconino County COVID-19 hotline (928) 679-7300

• Northern Arizona Healthcare hotline at (928) 773-2301

The Williams-Grand Canyon News website has a COVID-19 webpage with recent coronavirus news stories and links to resources.

Visit williamsnews.com to and click on the COVID-19 banner to see a daily nationwide tracker of the virus, links to county and state resources and a list of local restaurants.

The Associated Press contributed to this story


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