Arizona reports 921 more COVID-19 cases, most in 2 months

Phoenix Union High School District holds vaccinations for people ages 12 and up

As kids get ready to get back into the classroom, there's a big push to get students vaccinated. FOX 10's Anita Roman is at North High School for a vaccination event being held on July 9 and 10.

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona on Friday reported 921 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases, the biggest daily increase in two months, as the coronavirus continued to spread among unvaccinated people.

The additional cases along with six additional COVID-19 deaths reported Friday increased the state’s pandemic totals to 899,829 cases and 18,009 deaths.

The daily case report was the largest since Arizona reported 939 on May 8, and cases have ticked upward over the past month.

Unusually large daily case reports often occur after holiday weekends slow data collection or after public health officials clear data backlogs that occur for various reasons.

However, Friday’s case bulge didn’t reflect any delayed reporting of any significance and came during "an uptick of cases of late," Department of Health Services spokesman Steve Elliott said in an email. "Cases being reported now are almost entirely among those who aren’t vaccinated."

According to Johns Hopkins University data, Arizona’s seven-day rolling daily case average rose over the past two weeks from 473.1 on June 23 to 508.7 on Wednesday. The rolling average of daily deaths rose from 9.4 to 10.8 during the same period.

COVID-19-related hospitalizations continued to range between 500 and 600, with 535 virus patients occupying hospital beds as of Thursday.