Arizona health officials on Sunday reported 5,025 additional COVID-19 cases and 22 more deaths.
The latest figures from the state Department of Health Services increased the state’s pandemic totals to 758,404 cases and 13,120 known deaths.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested. Studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
Saturday’s update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control showed Arizona continuing to lead the nation in average cases per capita over the last seven days but now ranking second to Alabama in coronavirus deaths.
On Friday, the state announced that the COVID-19 variant first recorded in the United Kingdom was confirmed in tests from three people in Arizona.
State health officials are working with other public health agencies to monitor the situation.
Medical experts said viruses constantly mutate and coronavirus variants are circulating around the globe.
But scientists are primarily concerned with the emergence of three that researchers believe may spread more easily. Variants from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil have already been confirmed in the U.S.