State health officials reported 4,486 new coronavirus cases and 206 new COVID-19 related deaths on Saturday, Dec. 12, bringing the state’s total number of cases to over 430,000.
However, 176 of those deaths were identified during a regular vital records review of death certificates conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. The state routinely adds the deaths from the vital records checks into daily totals, giving notice when it happens.
Cases, hospitalizations and positive test rates are beginning to track down, though they remain at concerning levels, according to public health and hospital leaders. Hospitals were treating 3,875 patients with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday, with 863 patients in the ICU and 518 on ventilators. One week ago, there were 4,175 hospitalizations.
The state has a total of 430,780 COVID-19 cases and 10,662 total deaths. Most cases are in people ages 20-29, state data shows.
Once per week, the state includes statistics about coronavirus recoveries in its reports. A recovery is deemed to be someone still alive 30 days beyond the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.
As of Friday, there have been 236,369 recoveries from COVID-19.
Federal health officials announced Saturday that the distribution of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has begun. Some locations are expected to receive the vaccine Monday, Dec. 14, while a majority of sites will receive it Tuesday, Dec. 15.
