In South Philadelphia, on Thursday, December 10, 2020, nurse Laura Moore transfers a patient who was registered during a test for COVID-19 organized by the Philadelphia Fight Community Health Centers in Mifflin Square Park. (AP Photo / Matt Slogan)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the corona virus and its impact on Arizona and beyond, until December 13, 2020.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 5,854 new corona virus cases Sunday with 35 additional deaths.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, the state has a total of 408,442 COVID-19 infections and 7,357 deaths.
Overall, many COVID-19 levels in Arizona are at or near the highest since the onset of the epidemic.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients in Arizona was 3,622 on Saturday. This is a 57% increase from Thanksgiving, to 2,301, the highest in a single day, surpassing 3,534 inpatients on Friday and 3,517 on July 13th.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Arizona in ICU beds was 831 on Saturday. This is a 56% increase from Thanksgiving, when it was 532, the highest since July 25th.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds rose to 970 on July 13th.
Statewide, 42% of all inpatient beds and all ICU beds were filled with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients on Sunday, the last time it was seen was in July.
Overall, 91% of inpatients and 92% of ICU beds were filled. For the first time during these last three days of epidemics, less than 10% of the state’s inpatients received beds, only 744.
Arizona’s weekly percentage for a COVID – 19 diagnostic test, an indicator of how the virus is spreading in the community, peaked at 188 for 158,596 trials in nearly five months on December 6.
The positive rate was 17% for the 121,110 trials recorded last week.
The rate rose to 21% at the end of June and recently dropped to 4% at the beginning of October.
Official positive rates are based on when samples are taken, not when they are reported, so labs get stuck in testing and the results are documented by the state as the percentage fluctuates for recent weeks.
The health department’s seven – day average of newly reported cases rose to 6,241.29 on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
During the first wave of the epidemic in Arizona, when the test was lower than it is now, the seven-day case average averaged 3,844 on July 6 and then dropped to 373.14 on September 12.
The seven-day average case of newly announced deaths is lagging behind in numbers, but has been rising recently. It was 56.71 on Saturday, more than double the last week of November and the highest since August 12.
The seven-day death toll rose to 94 on July 30 and then dropped to 5.57 on Oct. 14.
Daily reports from the Arizona Department of Health present case, death and test data after obtaining and confirming state statistics, which may be several days or more behind schedule. In the last 24 hours they did not indicate actual activity.
The hospital admission data, which is posted every morning as required under the administrative order, is reported electronically by 100 hospitals across the state throughout the previous evening.
COVID-19, a disease caused by the corona virus novel, causes no harm to some and is debilitating or dangerous to others. People without symptoms – including cough, fever and difficulty breathing – are more likely to spread the virus.
Information about the test sites can be found on the Arizona Department of Health Services website.
Below are the latest developments on Saturday about corona virus outbreaks in the state, country and around the world:
- Worldwide, there were an estimated 71.85 million Govt-19 cases and 1.61 million deaths as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The United States estimates that there are approximately 16.07 million cases and 298,000 deaths.