Arizona coronavirus deaths reach 1,186

Arizona cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, now exceed 35,600 with 1,186 known deaths, according to numbers released on Sunday by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Arizona's total identified cases rose to 35,691 Sunday, according to the most recent state figures. That's an increase of 1,233 confirmed cases, or 3.5%, since Saturday.

Inpatient hospitalizations for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 hit its highest number on Thursday, with 1,336 hospitalizations, up from the previous high of 1,291 hospitalizations on Wednesday. Emergency department visits for patients with suspected or confirmed positive COVID-19 also reached its highest level on Thursday with 915 patients, far surpassing the next highest of 848 patients on both Monday and Wednesday.

Gov. Doug Ducey focused his news briefing on Thursday on hospital capacity — saying that although positive COVID-19 cases have been increasing, Arizona's hospitals are fully prepared to handle more patients.

Arizona's sharp increases over the past two weeks, particularly the spikes in positive cases, have raised questions and alarm locally and nationally about whether the state has done enough to slow the spread and what other precautions may be necessary.

During the past two weeks, the state has reported higher daily increases in cases, deaths and hospitalization rates than any time previously. Ducey's stayat-home order expired nearly a month ago.

Some experts warn that Arizona is experiencing a spike in community spread, pointing to increases in the number of positive cases, the percent of positive tests out of total tests, and hospitalizations. But Ducey said concerns about hospitals was "misinformation" and that Arizona hospitals are doing fine.

Reported cases: 35,691 known cases

i Cases increased by 1,233, or 3.5%, from Saturday's 34,458 identified cases.

i 18,692 in Maricopa, 3,910 in Pima, 3,129 in Yuma, 2,619 in Navajo, 1,972 in Apache, 1,500 in Pinal, 1,368 in Coconino, 970 in Santa Cruz, 589 in Mohave, 374 in Yavapai, 221 in La Paz, 216 in Cochise, 70 in Gila, 50 in Graham and 11 in

Greenlee, according to state numbers.

i The Navajo Nation reported 6,554 cases and 308 confirmed deaths as of Saturday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

i The Arizona Department of Corrections said 252 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday. At least 2,125 inmates have been tested out of a population of 40,632.

i Laboratories have completed a total of 337,728 diagnostic tests for COVID-19, 8.4% of which have come back positive.

Reported deaths: 1,186 are known

i Deaths increased by three from Saturday's 1,183 known deaths.

i 551 in Maricopa, 223 in Pima, 87 in Coconino, 86 in Navajo, 66 in Mohave, 56 in Apache, 44 in Pinal, 42 in Yuma, 12 in Santa Cruz, seven in Yavapai, four in Cochise, three in Gila and fewer than three in La Paz, Graham, and Greenlee.

i People aged 65 and older made up 898 of the 1,186 deaths, or 76%.

i While race/ethnicity is unknown for 12% of deaths, 45% of deaths were white, 18% were Native American, 20% were Hispanic or Latino and 3% were Black.

Hospitalizations still increasing

Inpatients with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 hit a record high 1,336 on Thursday, and hit another record of 1,412 on Friday. This was the 12th consecutive day that hospitalizations statewide have eclipsed 1,000, the highest they’ve been since the state began reporting the data on April 8.

Ventilator use for suspected and confirmed positive COVID-19 patients also hit its highest number on Friday: 309 patients on ventilators, continuing a trend of high ventilator numbers for the past two and a half weeks — especially high this week.

ICU bed use for suspected and confirmed positive COVID-19 patients hit 447 Friday, a new record. Friday was the 18th consecutive day that the number has been higher than 370 and the fifth consecutive day it passed 400.

Emergency department visits for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 hit its highest on Thursday with 915 patients, far surpassing the next highest of 848 on Monday and Wednesday. The number went down slightly on Friday, to 902.