COVID-19 testing still lagging in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County has Arizona’s second-highest positive test rate for COVID-19, data shows — second only to Navajo County.
Numbers updated by the Arizona Department of Health Services on May 26 showed 15.1% of positive coronavirus cases are in Santa Cruz County.
There are a total of 187 confirmed COVID-19 cases among Santa Cruz County residents, a significant increase from the 123 reported May 21.
Statistics show the highest day of reported infections in Santa Cruz County was on May 15 with 553 cases.
A handful of Santa Cruz County elected officials addressed the public in both English and Spanish, urging residents to stay home, wear a mask if they go out, and to practice social distancing.
Only Navajo County has a higher positive test rate at 18.5% with 1,550 current confirmed cases, making up 17.7% of the total statewide numbers.
The Nogales International reports that Santa Cruz County had Arizona’s fourth-highest positive test rate at 14% just last Thursday but that “a flurry of new confirmed infections since then has driven up the local positive percentage.”
In fact, on May 20, the County announced there had been a 66% increase in cases in the past four days.
To put it in perspective, the International also reports that Santa Cruz County has the fourth-lowest rate of COVID-19 infection testing in Arizona, with the state’s overall testing rate at 261.8 tests per 10,000 residents.
Dr. Eladio Pereira of the Mariposa Community Health Center told the Nogales International last week that his clinic had been having difficulty getting a “significant supply of tests” so they have been administering tests to people who are visibly presenting symptoms first.
Alicia Barrón Alicia Barrón is a Reporter for Copper Courier and The Americano. She's from the border town of Nogales, Arizona and has worked in journalism for 20 years, starting at 3TV/azfamily. Most recently, she was a staff writer at Upworthy and BuzzFeed.
