Dr. Joseph Varon enters the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at United Memorial Medical Center on December 29, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for December 30, 2020.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 5,267 new cases of coronavirus and 78 additional deaths on Wednesday.
The state’s documented total rose to 512,489 COVID-19 infections and 8,718 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health’s dashboard.
Several COVID-19 statistics in Arizona were at or near pandemic highs.
The number of confirmed or suspected patients from COVID-19 Hospital in Arizona climbed to a record 4526 on Tuesday, an increase of 97% since Thanksgiving Day.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU beds in the state increased to 1,076 on Tuesday, the sixth consecutive day with a record high.
Ventilator use and emergency room visits by confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients also reached record highs on Tuesday.
Across the country, COVID-19 patients suspect or confirm 53% of all inpatient beds and 61% of all ICU beds admitted.
Overall, inpatient beds were 91% and ICU beds were 90% full.
The increasing tide of COVID-19 patients is squeezing the space left for other patients in Arizona’s hospitals. Only 39% of all inpatients were non-COVID on Tuesday, the second lowest rate of the pandemic. For ICU beds, 29% was non-COVID, the lowest rate recorded.
Arizona’s weekly percentage of positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indication of how much the virus spreads in the community, was 22% through 113,233 tests for last week. If it holds, it will break the record of 21% from the week beginning June 28th.
The percentage of positivity is up 27% through 15,433 tests this week.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the percentage of recent weeks may vary as laboratories are caught up with the test and the results are documented by the state.
The seven-day moving average for the newly reported cases from the Department of Health was 5,715.29 on Tuesday, the lowest since December 7, according to the Associated Press.
The average of seven days of newly reported COVID-19 deaths rose to 73.57 on Tuesday, increasing for the second consecutive day after a five-day decline.
The state’s daily updates provide current case, death, and testing data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which may be delayed by a few days or longer. It does not represent the actual activity during the last 24 hours.
The hospital data posted each morning is electronically reported the night before by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has no effect on some people and is severely debilitating or deadly to others. Infected people without symptoms – which include coughing, fever and breathing problems – can spread the virus.
Information about test rooms can be found on the Arizona Department of Health Services website.
Below are Wednesday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from across the state, country and world:
- Britain has approved a coronavirus vaccine that is easy to handle and has decided to extend the time between doses so that more people can get protection faster as infections increase.
- Worldwide, there were approximately 82.11 million COVID-19 cases and 1.79 million deaths as of Wednesday morning, according to research by Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were about 19.52 million cases and 338,000 deaths.