Medical personnel are working to obtain a muscle sample from a patient for a muscle biopsy study at the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the United Memorial Medical Center on December 22, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura / Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for December 23, 2020.
PHOENIX – Health officials in Arizona reported 6,058 new cases of coronavirus and 54 additional deaths on Wednesday, while state hospitals are dealing with record numbers of COVID-19 patients.
The state’s documented totals have risen to 473,273 COVID-19 infections and 8,179 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The daily reports present case, death, and test data after the state receives and confirms statistics, which may take several days or more. They do not reflect actual activity for the last 24 hours.
Multiple COVID-19 statistics in Arizona remain at or near pandemic highs.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital patients in Arizona rose to a record high of 4,163 on Tuesday, an increase of 144 from the previous day. It was the 10th daily record for inpatients with the coronavirus in the past 12 days.
The number of COVID-19 patients in state IC beds was 972, breaking the July 13 record of 970.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients occupied 49% of all hospital beds, a record high, and 55% of all IC beds.
In total, 92% of the hospital beds were filled and IC beds were a pandemic record 93% full. The state had fallen to 119 unused ICU beds, the lowest number in the pandemic.
The seven-day average for the health department’s newly reported COVID-19 deaths shot to 100.43 Tuesday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, breaking the July 30 of 94 record.
The seven-day moving average for newly reported cases was 6,119 for Tuesday, slightly higher than the previous day, but the second lowest since December 11.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is on track to hit record highs after leveling off in recent weeks.
For 12,304 registered tests for this week, the positivity rate was 21%, which is in line with the record for the week of June 28.
The rate was 18% for the previous three weeks.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the rate for the past few weeks may fluctuate as labs are overtaken by testing and results are documented by the state.
The hospitalization data posted each morning is reported electronically the night before by 100 hospitals across the state as required under executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, does not affect some people and is severely disabling or fatal to others. Infected people without symptoms – including but not limited to a cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – can spread the virus.
Information on testing sites can be found on the Arizona Department of Health Services website.
Below are Wednesday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 157 new coronavirus cases and no recent deaths, bringing the documented totals to 21,513 infections and 755 fatalities.
- With COVID-19 rising across Arizona, multiple facilities in Arizona’s largest hospital system, Banner Health, have scaled back elective surgeries and are operating at over 100 percent capacity.
- A group of students from Arizona State University won $ 500,000 in a face mask design competition to overcome common complaints about protective gear.
- President Donald Trump has threatened to torpedo the massive COVID-19 emergency and year-end package from Congress, overturning a hard-won compromise amid a raging pandemic and deep economic uncertainty by demanding changes that fellow Republicans are resisting.
- The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 89,000 to 803,000 last week, evidence that the labor market is still under pressure nine months after the coronavirus outbreak plunged the U.S. economy into recession and caused millions of layoffs.
- Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, said she is “hopeful” that the state hospitals will have enough manpower to accommodate the continued increase in COVID-19 patients.
- Pfizer and BioNTech will provide the US with an additional 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine under a second agreement.
- Will Humble, director of the Arizona Public Health Association KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Chad and Gaydos Show that a new variant of coronavirus discovered in the United Kingdom may already be in the United States, but that’s not alarming.
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 78.17 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and 1.72 million deaths on Wednesday morning. The figures for the US were about 18.24 million cases and 323,000 deaths.