Hospitalizations for COVID-19 reach new highs in state

Emergency department visits and counts of inpatient beds, ICU beds and ventilators in use for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients hit their highest-ever numbers Tuesday, according to hospital data.

The highest jump came in emergency department visits, with 1,093 suspected COVID-19 patients treated Tuesday, compared to 956 Monday.

All those hospital metrics, posted on the state website Wednesday, surpassed previous records reported on Monday. As of Tuesday, 85% of current inpatient beds and 83% of ICU beds were in use for COVID-19 and other patients.

Wednesday’s report of 1,827 new cases was the second-highest number of cases reported in a single day, following Tuesday’s 2,392 new cases reported. Before that, the record was 1,654 new cases reported June 12.

The state has seen more than two weeks of high numbers of reported cases, deaths and hospitalizations. More than 1,000 new cases have been reported on 12 of the past 16 days, including on the past eight days.

Twenty deaths were reported Wednesday.

In a briefing last week, Gov. Doug Ducey focused on hospital capacity — saying that although positive COVID-19 cases have been increasing, Arizona’s hospitals are prepared to handle more patients.

Ducey said concern about hospitals was “misinformation” and that Arizona hospitals are doing fine.

Arizona’s sharp uptick during the past two to three weeks, particularly the spikes in positive cases, has 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.

Ducey’s stay-at-home order expired just over a month ago.

Here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s new numbers.

Reported cases: 40,924

Cases increased by 1,827, or 4.7%, from Tuesday’s 39,097 identified cases.

22,272 in Maricopa, 4,385 in Pima, 3,454 in Yuma, 2,771 in Navajo, 1,998 in Apache, 1,793 in Pinal, 1,410 in Coconino, 1,165 in Santa Cruz, 636 in Mohave, 387 in Yavapai, 248 in Cochise, 238 in La Paz, 99 in Gila, 56 in Graham and 12 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The Navajo Nation reported 6,672 cases and 319 confirmed deaths as of Tuesday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The Arizona Department of Corrections said 265 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Tuesday. 2,764 inmates have been tested out of a population of 40,547.

While race/ethnicity is unknown for 40% of cases, 26% of cases are Hispanic or Latino, 17% of cases are white, 11% are Native American and 3% are Black.

Laboratories have completed 365,846 diagnostic tests for COVID-19, 8.7% of which have been positive.

Reported deaths: 1,239

Deaths increased by 20 from Tuesday’s 1,219 known deaths.

579 in Maricopa, 229 in Pima, 90 in Navajo, 88 in Coconino, 71 in Mohave, 58 in Apache, 47 in Pinal, 43 in Yuma, 13 in Santa Cruz, seven in Yavapai, five in Cochise, three in Gila, three in La Paz and fewer than three in Graham and Greenlee.

People aged 65 and older made up 933 of the 1,239 deaths, or 75%.

While race/ethnicity is unknown for 13% of deaths, 44% of deaths were white, 20% were Hispanic or Latino, 18% were Native American and 3% were Black.

Hospitalizations still increasing

Inpatients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 tallied 1,582 as of Tuesday, the highest number so far, passing Monday’s 1,506 inpatients. This was the 16th consecutive day that hospitalizations statewide have eclipsed 1,000 and 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 was at its highest on Tuesday, with 346 patients on ventilators. This continues a trend of high ventilator numbers. Before Tuesday’s 346 patients, Monday’s 340 patients on ventilators was the highest number since data on ventilator use became public April 8.

ICU bed use for suspected and confirmed positive COVID-19 patients hit a record high 531 on Tuesday, surpassing the 502 on Monday. Tuesday was the 22nd consecutive day that the number has been higher than 370 and the ninth consecutive day it has passed 400.

Emergency department visits for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 hit its highest number so far, with 1,093 patients seen Tuesday, well above the previous high of 956 patients seen Monday. Visits surpassed 800 on June 5 and have been above that level every day since. During April and May, emergency department daily visits for COVID-19 were typically in the 400s and 500s, rising into the 600s in the last few days of May.

The number of patients with suspected or confirmed positive COVID-19 discharged from hospitals has hovered between 95 and 140 individuals each day for the past two weeks. The highest day for COVID-19 patient discharge was April 17, with 242 patients discharged.

What about these trends?

The state isn’t yet talking much about possible new mitigation strategies or changes. Ducey and Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, have encouraged a redoubling of personal precautions such as physical distancing and mask-wearing when that’s not possible. They repeatedly say Arizona has taken adequate precautions statewide and is prepared. The governor’s office told The Arizona Republic Monday it plans to expand its public health information campaign, further ramp up testing, expand contact tracing and continue to watch hospital capacity.