(Photo by AP / Dmitri Lovetsky)
This is a periodically updated story, with the latest information about coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and not only for January 2, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 8,883 new cases of coronavirus and 46 additional deaths Saturday.
Saturday’s numbers bring documented state totals to 539,150 COVID-19 infections and 9,061 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
And, as was the case in December, more COVID-19 values in Arizona are at or near pandemic highs.
The number of patients admitted to the confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital fell to 4,484 on Friday, down from 4,501 on Thursday.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU state beds rose to 1,074 on Friday.
Nationally, patients suspected or confirmed by COVID-19 took over 52% of all inpatient beds, tying the record and 61% of all ICU beds.
Overall, hospital beds and intensive care beds were each 93% full. The 132 beds left in intensive care were the fewest of the pandemics.
The large increase in patients with COVID-19 is squeezing the space left for other patients in Arizona hospitals. Banner Health, the state’s largest hospital system, said Wednesday it will discontinue all elective surgery in Arizona beginning Friday in response to the flood of COVID-19 patients.
Arizona’s weekly positive test for COVID-19, an indicator of how widespread the virus is in the community, is at a record pace.
The positivity rate was 25% through 94,119 tests processed this week. If it resists, it will exceed the 21% mark compared to last week.
Official positivity rates are based on the time of sampling, not the time they are reported, so the percentage in recent weeks may fluctuate as laboratories are tested and the results are documented by the state.
The seven-day average continues for the recently reported cases of the health department was on a downward trend from the top two weeks ago and was at 6,190.29 for Friday, according to the follow-up made by The Associated Press.
The seven-day average of recent COVID-19 deaths rose this week to 86.57 on Friday, the highest level since Christmas Eve.
Daily state updates present case, death and test data after the state receives statistics and confirms them, which can remain for a few days or more. It is not the actual activity of the last 24 hours.
Hospitalization data posted each morning is reported electronically the previous evening by 100 hospitals across the state, as required by the executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has no impact on some and is severely debilitating or fatal to others. Asymptomatic infected people – which include, but are not limited to, cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – are able to spread the virus.
Diagnostic testing is available in hundreds of locations in Arizona and should be looked for by anyone with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information about locations, programs and registration can be found on the website of the Department of Health Services.
Below are the latest developments on Saturday about the coronavirus pandemic across the country, country and world:
- Globally, there have been approximately 84,084 million COVID-19 cases and 1,829 million deaths since Saturday morning, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were about 20,138 million cases and 347,844 deaths.