PHOENIX – Arizona reported 44 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday morning, according to the state health department, an increase of 17 from the previous morning.

A day earlier, the state reported 27 cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in the morning. Multiple reports of additional cases from other authorities were released later Wednesday.

The number of cases reported in Maricopa County doubled in 24 hours from 11 to 22.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has been updating its coronavirus web page with the number of cases each morning.

Arizona still has no reported deaths.

Officials have said an increased capacity to administer and process tests will result in a sharp increase in the rate of new cases in the coming days, so it’s unclear how much of the increase is due to spread of the virus and how much to the boost in testing.

“We’re expecting additional cases, and we know there will be more confirmed cases as access to testing expands,” AZDHS Director Dr. Cara Christ said during a press conference in Phoenix.

However, Christ said there’s still a national shortage of testing supplies.

“There are not enough tests for everyone who wants to be tested at this time,” she said.

Christ advised people with mild symptoms to stay home and said not to go to an emergency room unless the situation is an emergency.

She said positive tests won’t change treatment for patients in the absence of serious symptoms.

The state health department’s Thursday morning update included the first Coconino County case, a Flagstaff-area positive test made public Wednesday night by the county’s health department.

In addition to Maricopa and Coconino, cases have been reported in four other Arizona counties: 10 in Pinal, seven in Pima, three in Navajo and one in Graham.

The Pinal County health department said Thursday its two new cases are people in the same two households as cases reported Wednesday.

One is a man in his 30s and the other is a woman in her 30s. Both are recovering in isolation at their homes.

Maricopa County didn’t provide details about its 11 new cases, but its public health department posted coronavirus trend data.

It shows that 10 of metro Phoenix’s 22 cases, nearly half, are people age 40 and under. Seven Maricopa County COVID-19 patients have required hospitalization.

It’s not known how many tests have been given in Arizona and how many results are pending because the state doesn’t report those statistics for testing administered by private labs.

Of Arizona’s 44 positives tests, 26 were found in state labs and 18 in private labs.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday reported 10,442 cases and 150 deaths nationally, up from 7,038 cases and 97 deaths a day earlier.

Wednesday’s situation report by the World Health Organization included more than 191,000 cases and more than 7,800 deaths globally.

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