(Photo by AP / Dmitri Lovetsky)
This is a periodically updated story with the latest information on coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond January 2, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 8,883 new coronavirus cases and 46 additional deaths Saturday.
Saturday’s figures bring the state’s documented total to 539,150 COVID-19 infections and 9,061 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
And, as was the case throughout December, several COVID-19 metrics in Arizona are at or near the maximum pandemic.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients in Arizona fell to 4,484 on Friday, down from 4,501 on Thursday.
The number of patients with COVID-19 in state ICU beds rose to 1,074 on Friday.
Patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 statewide occupied 52% of all hospital beds, a record, and 61% of all ICU beds.
Overall, hospital beds and ICU beds had 93% complete. The remaining 132 beds in the ICU were the fifth in the pandemic.
The rising tide of 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 pause all elective surgeries in Arizona starting Friday in response to the deluge of COVID-19 patients.
Arizona’s weekly positive percentage for diagnostic tests for COVID-19, an indicator of how many viruses are spreading in the community, has a marked pace.
The positivity percentage was 25% through 94,119 tests processed this week. If this is maintained, it will surpass the record mark of 21% over last week.
Official positivity rates are based on when samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the percentage in recent weeks may fluctuate as labs catch up on testing. and the state documents the results.
The seven-day continuous average of cases recently reported by the health department has been on a downward trend since reaching a two-week high of 6,190.29 as of Friday, according to The Associated Press.
The average of seven days of deaths for COVID-19 reported recently has been rising this week and has been up to 86.57 for Friday, the highest level since Christmas Eve.
Daily status updates present case, death, and evidence data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which can take several days or more. They do not represent the actual activity during the last 24 hours.
Hospitalization data released each morning is communicated electronically the night before by 100 hospitals across the state, as required by executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has no impact on some people and is severely debilitating or deadly to others. Infected people without symptoms (which include, but are not limited to, cough, fever, and difficulty breathing) are able to spread the virus.
Diagnostic tests are available at hundreds of sites across Arizona and should be looked for by anyone with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information on locations, times, and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
Below are the latest developments on Saturday on the coronavirus pandemic across the state, country and world:
- Globally, there were about 84,084 million cases of COVID-19 and 1,829 million deaths on Saturday morning, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. U.S. figures were about 20.138 billion cases and 347,844 deaths.