(AP Photo / Dmitri Lovetsky)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for January 2, 2021.
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials reported 8,883 new coronavirus cases and 46 additional deaths on Saturday.
Saturday’s figures put the state’s documented totals at 539,150 COVID-19 infections and 9,061 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
And as was the case in December, multiple COVID-19 statistics in Arizona are at or near pandemic highs.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital patients in Arizona fell to 4,484 on Friday, from 4,501 on Thursday.
The number of COVID-19 patients in state IC beds rose to 1,074 Friday.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients occupied 52% of all hospital beds, confirming the record, and 61% of all IC beds.
Overall, the inpatient and intensive care beds were each 93% full. The remaining 132 intensive care beds were the fifth least in the pandemic.
The emergence of COVID-19 patients is shrinking the space that is left for other patients in Arizona hospitals. Banner Health, the state’s largest hospital system, said on Wednesday that it will suspend all elective surgery in Arizona starting Friday in response to the deluge of COVID-19 patients.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is at record speed.
The percentage of positivity was 25% through 94,119 processed tests this week. If it stays that way, it will surpass last week’s record tying of 21%.
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 seven-day moving average for the health department’s newly reported cases shows a declining trend since a peak two weeks ago and was 6,190.29 Friday, according to tracking by The Associated Press.
The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths has risen this week to reach 86.57 for Friday, the highest level since Christmas Eve.
The state updates current case, death, and test data daily after the state receives and confirms statistics, which can delay several days or more. They do not reflect actual activity for the past 24 hours.
The hospital admission data posted each morning is electronically reported 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 seriously disabling or fatal for others. Infected people without symptoms – including but not limited to a cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – can spread the virus.
Diagnostic tests are available at hundreds of locations in Arizona and should be sought by anyone with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information on locations, schedules, and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
Below are Saturday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 84.084 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and 1.829 million deaths on Saturday morning. The figures for the US were about 20,138 million cases and 347,844 deaths.