Community parameter Karin Casciano evaluates an 83-year-old patient during a home health check on December 23, 2020, in White Plains, New York. The patient, a former US Marine, said the Christmas stockings were for his adult children, although he would not see them this Christmas because of the pandemic. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and not just for December 25, 2020.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 6,616 new cases of coronavirus and 115 additional deaths on Christmas Day, while a record number of COVID-19 patients spend their vacation in the hospital.
The state’s documented totals rose to 486,935 COVID-19 infections and 8,409 deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
Several COVID-19 values in Arizona were at or near pandemic highs.
The number of patients admitted to COVID-19 Hospital confirmed or suspected in Arizona rose to a record 4,226 on Thursday, the 12th daily record in 14 days.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU state beds rose to 976, setting a record for the second time in three days.
At the national level, patients suspected or confirmed by COVID-19 took over 50% of all hospital beds, tying the previous day’s record and 55% of all ICU beds.
Overall, hospital beds were 91% full, and intensive care beds were 93% full. The state had 131 unused beds on Thursday, one less than the day before.
The weekly positive percentage in Arizona for testing for the diagnosis of COVID-19, an indicator of the extent of the virus spreading in the community, was 23% through 51,929 tests this week. If it holds up, it will break the 21% record for the week beginning June 28.
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 health department’s recently reported cases of 6,469 on Thursday, according to a follow-up by The Associated Press, the largest this week.
The seven-day average of deaths recently reported by COVID-19 was 88.14 for Thursday, down for the second day in a row, but still the fifth highest.
Daily updates present case, death, and test data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which may 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.
Information on test locations can be found on the Arizona Department of Health Services website.
Below are the latest developments on Friday about the coronavirus pandemic across the country, country and world:
- After blowing up a grenade threatening to blow up a massive COVID reduction measure and government funding, President Donald Trump spent Christmas Eve playing golf in Florida.
- Globally, there have been approximately 79.25 million COVID-19 cases and 1.74 million deaths since Friday morning, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. The figures for the US were about 18.66 million cases and 329,000 deaths.