Maricopa County says coronavirus hospitalization curve is flattening

PHOENIX — Maricopa County public health officials said Wednesday that the hospitalization curve due to coronavirus has been flattening in recent days.

Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, the county’s medical director for public health, said the flattening of the epi curve is likely due to individuals following social distancing guidelines and measures enacted by Gov. Doug Ducey to stop the spread of COVID-19.

There haven’t been more than 13 daily coronavirus hospitalizations in the county in the last six days of data collection, which was last reported Sunday.

Previously, the county had been averaging more than 15 hospitalizations per day for about a month.

“This is exactly why the governor put protective measures in place,” Sunenshine said in a press release. “Flattening the curve allows hospitals to have the resources to care for everyone who becomes sick.”

The epi curve doesn’t account for testing availability and can’t be used to predict future hospitalizations, so Sunenshine urged to continue with social distancing.

More than half of the almost 4,000 reported coronavirus cases in Arizona have occurred in Maricopa County, the state’s most populated.

Ducey’s “stay-at-home” order went into effect March 31.

“The challenge is that for the curve to remain flat and eventually slope down, we cannot relax our social distancing measures yet,” Sunenshine said.

Data from Maricopa County public health officials also found that hypertension or high blood pressure was the most common chronic health condition for those hospitalized due to coronavirus.

Diabates and heart disease were also preexisting conditions that were common for hospitalized patients with more severe cases in the county.

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