Medical staff member Tanna Ingraham responds as her patient first manages to eat food on their own after intubation tubes are removed in COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) on Christmas Day at United Memorial Medical Center on December 25, 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 28, 2020.
PHOENIX – Health officials in Arizona reported 10,086 new cases of coronavirus and 42 additional deaths on Monday as the number of cases in the state reached half a million.
The state’s documented totals rose to 504,423 COVID-19 infections and 8,469 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
The new case report, which was the third highest in one day, included additions of several days over the holiday weekend, the department said.
Multiple COVID-19 statistics in Arizona were at or near pandemic highs.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital patients in Arizona rose to a record of 4,390 on Sunday, a jump from 200 in 24 hours.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds rose to a record high of 1,007 on Sunday, hitting four-fold figures for the first time.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients occupied a record 52% of all hospital beds and a record 57% of all IC beds.
In total, the hospital beds were 90% filled and the IC beds were 91% filled.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, was 23% through 94,911 tests for last week. If it stays that way, the record of 21% will be broken from the week of June 28.
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 testing and the results are documented by the state.
The seven-day moving average for the health department’s newly reported cases was 5,820 for Sunday, according to tracking by The Associated Press, the lowest since Dec. 7.
The seven-day mean of newly reported COVID-19 deaths was 65.14, the lowest since December 16.
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 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 test sites can be found on the website of the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Below are Monday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 80.88 million COVID-19 cases and 1.76 million deaths on Monday morning worldwide. The figures for the US were about 19.13 million cases and 333,000 deaths.