PHOENIX — Arizona health officials added 17,234 new coronavirus cases on Sunday morning, the highest number to be reported yet in a 24-hour period.
The data added Jan. 3, 2021, showed no additional deaths reported due to coronavirus despite the record-high number of daily reported cases.
The increase comes after a busy holiday travel season, despite warnings to stay home by officials and experts around the country.
So far, in the first 3 days of 2021, Arizona has seen more than 36,000 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Arizona Department of Health Services. More than 10,000 cases were added on Jan. 1 and nearly 9,000 cases on Jan. 2.
With several school districts set to start the second semester on Monday, January 4, Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman is calling for Governor Ducey to mandate a two-week period of distance learning statewide to align with quarantine protocols, citing rising COVID numbers and the current strain on our healthcare system.