Arizona adds 172 COVID-19 deaths while hospital numbers keep climbing

PHOENIX – Arizona reported its largest batch of COVID-19 deaths for a single day in almost 10 months on Tuesday, while hospital numbers continue their upward march.

Today’s #COVID19 dashboard update adds 3,015 cases and 172 deaths. Protect yourself and your community:
✔️Get vaccinated: https://t.co/n6vDlhPBPQ
✔️Get your booster: https://t.co/xeP0TgNe00
✔️Mask, maintain physical distance, stay home if sick and more: https://t.co/Ub1IbP36vA pic.twitter.com/7FF7eMx8hx

— AZ Dept of Health (@AZDHS) December 7, 2021

The Arizona Department of Health Services added 172 deaths and 3,015 cases to its COVID-19 dashboard, pushing the documented pandemic totals to 22,761 fatalities and 1,298,091 infections.

The last time the state had a larger daily batch of deaths that didn’t include reporting from multiple days was Feb. 18 (213).

Meanwhile, Arizona’s COVID inpatient and ICU patient numbers are the highest they’ve been in about 10 months.

“Our hospitalization numbers are extremely concerning,” Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director of disease control for Maricopa County Public Health, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Tuesday.

“They’ve been going up and they’re right where they were in early February of this … year, and that’s going into flu season, which is normally when our hospitals become very full.”

The dashboard showed Arizona hospitals with 2,800 confirmed or suspected COVID inpatients on Monday, 40 more than the previous day and the most since Feb. 7.

ICU usage for COVID patients was at 688 beds, up 15 from the previous day and the most since Feb. 12.

Arizona’s COVID hospitalizations surged this past summer, when the highly transmissible delta variant became the dominant version of the virus, and tailed off after a mid-September peak. They started rising again in October and are now more than halfway to the high marks seen last winter, when the vaccine rollout was just starting.

COVID patients accounted for 32% of all Arizona’s inpatient capacity and 39% of the state’s ICU capacity on Monday. The number of unused hospital beds statewide was at 569 for inpatients and 96 for ICUs.

Thirteen percent of the completed diagnostic tests for samples taken last week returned positive as of Tuesday’s dashboard update, down 1 point from the previous week.

The state health department’s daily updates present case and death data after the state receives statistics and confirms them, which can lag by several days or more. They don’t represent the actual activity over the past 24 hours. The hospitalization numbers posted each morning are reported electronically the previous evening by hospitals across the state.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data for September, people not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were 5.8 times more likely to test positive and 14 times more likely to die from the virus than fully vaccinated individuals.

The ADHS dashboard showed 67.1% of Arizonans old enough to get vaccinated have received at least one shot, while 57.7% of them are fully vaccinated.

Arizona trails behind the national rates of 75.6% of age-eligible residents with at least one dose and 63.8% fully vaccinated.

The minimum age to receive the Pfizer shot is 5, and it’s 18 for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The Pfizer version has full Food and Drug Administration approval, while the other two were granted emergency use authorization.

Officials are now recommending booster shots for adults who received their second Pfizer or Moderna doses more than six months ago and those who got the Johnson & Johnson shot at least two months ago.

For details about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with locations and other information.

For information about metro Phoenix vaccine availability, Maricopa County Public Health has a locator page that lists pharmacies, government-run sites, health clinics and pop-up distribution events. Appointments may be required depending on the provider.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has no impact on some people and is seriously debilitating or fatal for others. Infected people without symptoms — which include but are not limited to cough, fever and difficulty breathing — are capable of spreading the virus.

Information about where to get tested for COVID-19 can be found on the ADHS website.

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