Hospitals fill as Ariz. adds 9,900 COVID-19 cases, 297 fatalities
Arizona reported more than 9,900 new COVID-19 cases and nearly 300 new known deaths on Thursday as hospitals are overloaded by an unprecedented and growing number of patients with the virus.
The state’s seven-day new-case average ranks highest nationwide for the third day in a row, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker as of Wednesday.
Arizona’s rate of new positive cases over the last seven days was 118.3 cases per 100,000 people. The next-highest state behind Arizona was California, with a rate of 95.9 new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days, per the CDC. The U.S. average for new cases is 65.7 cases per 100,000 people.
The state data dashboard shows 93% of all ICU beds and 93% of all inpatient beds in Arizona were in use Tuesday, with 62% of ICU beds and 57% of nonICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, there were 128 ICU beds and 594 non-ICU beds available.
The number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 4,920 on Wednesday, the highest recorded, passing the previous record of 4,877 on Tuesday. By comparison, the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.
The number of patients with suspected or known COVID-19 in ICUs across Arizona was at 1,101 on Wednesday, just above the previous record of 1,096 on Monday.
Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 776 on Wednesday, just below the record high 782 ventilators in use on Sunday.
Wednesday saw 2,280 emergency room visits for COVID-19, slightly under the Dec. 29 single-day record of 2,341 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients seen in emergency departments across the state.
New cases in Arizona have eclipsed 5,000 for 24 of the past 30 days. Public health experts expect the virus to spread further because of personal contact over the holidays. Thursday’s 9,913 new cases brought the total number of identified COVID-19 cases in the state to 584,593. As of Thursday, 9,741 Arizonans are known to have died from the disease, according to the data dashboard from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Of the 297 newly reported deaths, 238 are from death certificate matching, per the department.
Thursday’s numbers
Reported cases in Arizona: 584,593. Cases since the outbreak began increased by 9,913, or 1.72%, from Wednesday’s 574,680 identified cases. These daily cases are grouped by the date they are reported to the Arizona Department of Health Services, not by the date the tests were administered.
Cases by county: 360,707 in Maricopa, 77,854 in Pima, 31,497 in Pinal, 29,715 in Yuma, 14,347 in Mohave, 12,668 in Yavapai, 12,095 in Coconino, 12,086 in in Navajo, 8,502 in Cochise, 8,045 in Apache, 6,441 in Santa Cruz, 4,867 in Gila, 3,601 in Graham, 1,719 in La Paz and 441 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.
The Navajo Nation reported 24,247 cases and 838 confirmed deaths in total as of Wednesday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Tribal leaders have implemented a stay-at-home lockdown and reinstated weekend curfews due to what officials have called the “uncontrolled spread” of COVID-19 in the tribe’s communities.
The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 7,748 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, including 1,567 in Tucson, 1,520 in Yuma, 1,269 in Eyman and 909 in Douglas; 43,017 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 1,968 prison staff members have self-reported testing positive, the department said. Twenty-six incarcerated people in Arizona have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with 13 additional deaths under investigation.
Deaths by county: 5,575 in Maricopa, 1,189 in Pima, 565 in Yuma, 407 in Pinal, 378 in Mohave, 368 in Navajo, 259 in Yavapai, 255 in Apache, 226 in Coconino, 158 in Cochise, 151 in Gila, 113 in Santa Cruz, 55 in Graham, 38 in La Paz and four in Greenlee.