Arizona has become the “hottest hot spot” for COVID-19, as the state has the highest case rates in the world and hospitalizations – and health officials warn that the number will only get worse because of the holiday rallies.
Arizona reported 9,909 new cases of COVID-19 and 297 new deaths Thursday, the highest number recorded in a single day, though the state health department noted most were due to the “process of matching the death certificate”.
Arizona has the lowest COVID-19 case rates globally, according to 91-divoc.com, a COVID-19 tracker. The state currently has the highest seven-day average of COVID-19 infections per capita in any region of the world, based on data from Johns Hopkins University.
Arizona also leads the country in terms of hospitalization rates, according to The COVID Tracking Project. 4,920 hospitalizations were reported on Thursday – the highest number for the fourth day in a row.
Staff concerns
Statewide, 7 percent of intensive care unit beds have been available since Wednesday, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Banner Health cares for about half of all COVID-19 patients in Arizona, officials said. The situation in the state is “beyond concern,” said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, chief clinician for the hospital system, during a press briefing on Wednesday.
“Arizona hospitals are stretched very thin right now, despite a considerable amount of training and capacity-building work,” Bessel said.
Banner Health canceled elective operations at all of its Arizona hospitals on Jan. 1. His occupation in Arizona is over 100% of the authorized bed capacity, Bessel said Wednesday, although staff is the system’s biggest concern.
“We can create beds, we think,” she said. “It’s the skilled staff, the expert nurse, the wonderful doctor, the incredibly diligent respiratory therapist, these are the individuals who are stretched very thin right now. And there aren’t even more of them across the country because they’re deployed in every state trying to meets the requirements of each community. “
Bessel anticipates that hospitalizations will worsen in the coming weeks, due to the “stacking effect of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s activities.”
Waiting times are another concern, as hospitals may have to keep patients in emergency rooms because ICUs or inpatient beds are not available.
“The wait can be from a few hours to over 24 to 48 hours in the emergency room until we can move someone from the emergency room to a hospital bed,” said Dr. Michael White, chief clinical officer. for Valleywise Health in Maricopa County, he said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
Mitigation requests – and execution
As Arizona has become “the hottest hot spot for COVID,” Bessel urges residents to “shrink the circle” only for those in their household, wear a mask with people outside their circle, and stop attending unmasked gatherings. even if you feel good. “
“It is very likely that someone at these meetings will have the virus and spread it to you,” she said, noting that contract tracking is not beneficial because COVID-19 “is so uncontrolled in our state.”
“We need each of you to do your part so that hospitals remain open and accessible to all who need medical care,” she added.
The health official also called for increased mitigation measures, such as a state-wide mask warrant, extinguishing time and stopping meals inside and enforcing existing measures.
The state did not issue a mask warrant, although several cities and counties did. Quotes for ignoring mask orders have not been issued in Tucson, Flagstaff or the 12 largest cities in the Phoenix area, according to a recent Arizona Republican survey.
Governor Doug Ducey also called on local governments to take action.
“There are steps in place, and if many of these leaders who turn to and call for further action would effectively impose and take responsibility for the steps that are already there, we can further reduce the spread of this and save lives.” Ducey said at a press briefing last month.
In a Jan. 3 report from ABC News, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said Arizona’s post-holiday figures “raise significant concerns” about the spread of the COVID-19 community and recommended a “mitigation combination. aggressive with additional restrictions and substantial acceleration of vaccinations. “
The Republican governor did not tighten restrictions, despite calls to do so.
“Facing strict mitigation measures and states that have few or no mitigation measures, they all face the same thing,” Ducey spokesman CJ Karamargin told the Associated Press this week. on – remain in place. We urge every Arizonan to follow them. “
Focus on vaccinations
The state has given priority to vaccination to fight the pandemic.
“The vaccine will save millions of lives in the future, and that’s our goal today,” Ducey said last month.
More than 113.00 people since Thursday, including front-line health workers and residents and staff at health care institutions, have been vaccinated in Arizona, according to the state health department.
The goal is to vaccinate about 3.5 million people, officials said.
Staff are a concern at vaccination sites, Bessel said. Banner Health operates three vaccination sites across the state, requiring hundreds of staff and volunteers each day. Bessel herself has been redistributed several times to the Banner Health vaccination bridge at Arizona State Fairgrounds to administer vaccines, a spokesman told ABC News.
“We are stretching as much as possible because we believe that [the] the vaccine is how we get out of the pandemic, “she said.
Arizona National Guard-trained volunteers began administering the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday and supporting vaccination sites in Arizona, officials said. These include retired medical professionals and people with medical education.
“When people saw us here, they wanted to step up and volunteer, which is exactly what we need,” said U.S. Army Colonel Tom Leaper, an Arizona State Guard surgeon with Phoenix ABC KNXV. “We were contacted by a group of volunteers who said they wanted to protect their state and communities and what they could do to help.”
For now, it is “critically important” for people to continue the social distance, White said.
“Even if the vaccine starts to be distributed in our community, it will be months before we can reduce our restrictions,” he said. “If we do not continue to do this, we are in danger of overwhelming our clinical departments and hospitals.”
Josh Margolin, Brian Hartman and Eric Strauss of ABC News contributed to this report.