Arizona reports 7,718 new COVID-19 cases, 146 deaths on last day of 2020
Dec 31, 2020, 8:28 AM | Updated: 4:38 pm
A giant television screen informs people not to gather for New Year's event in Shibuya area on December 31, 2020, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)
(Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information about the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for Dec. 31, 2020.
PHOENIX – In the final daily update of 2020, Arizona health officials reported 7,718 new coronavirus cases and 146 additional deaths on Thursday.
The year wrapped with the state’s documented totals at 520,207 COVID-19 infections and 8,864 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services dashboard.
And as has been the case throughout December, multiple COVID-19 metrics in Arizona are at or near pandemic highs.
The number of Arizona’s confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospital inpatients climbed to 4,564 on Wednesday, breaking the record for a fifth straight day.
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The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICU beds dipped to 1,028 on Wednesday, snapping a six-day streak of daily records.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients took up 53% of all inpatient beds, tying the record, and 58% of all ICU beds, down from the previous day’s record of 61%.
Overall, inpatient beds and ICU beds each were 93% full, the highest levels of the pandemic. The 121 remaining ICU beds were the fewest of the pandemic.
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The rising tide of COVID-19 patients is squeezing the space left for other patients in Arizona’s hospitals. Banner Health, the state’s largest hospital system, said Wednesday it will pause all elective surgeries in Arizona starting Friday in response to the deluge of COVID-19 patients.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, is on a record-setting pace.
The percent positivity was 27% through 33,544 tests this week. If that holds up, it will surpass the record-tying mark of 21% from last week.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the percentage for recent weeks can fluctuate as labs get caught up on testing and the results are documented by the state.
The rolling seven-day average for the health department’s newly reported cases has been trending downward since peaking two weeks ago and was at 5,602.29 for Wednesday, the lowest seen since Dec. 7, according to tracking by The Associated Press.
The seven-day average of newly reported COVID-19 deaths has been climbing this week and was up to 77 for Wednesday, the highest level since Christmas Day.
The state’s daily updates present case, death and testing 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 data posted each morning is reported electronically the previous evening by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel 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.
Diagnostic testing is available at hundreds of locations across Arizona and should be sought out by anybody with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information about locations, schedules and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
Below are Thursday’s latest developments about the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- The Navajo Nation reported 287 new coronavirus cases and 23 additional deaths on Thursday, bringing the documented totals to 23,090 infections and 806 fatalities.
- Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday extended an executive order that prevents health care professionals from being sued over their work on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in most cases.
- An Arizona mother was arrested for allegedly beating her three kids because they weren’t wearing face masks after testing positive for COVID-19.
- Maricopa County reported that 43,768 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given at its distribution sites. The county said its vaccine dashboard won’t be updated again until Jan. 2.
- Globally, there were about 82.85 million COVID-19 cases and 1.81 million deaths as of Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University research. The figures for the U.S. were around 19.75 million cases and 342,000 deaths.
