Arizona reports 147 COVID-19 deaths; hospitals beds filling
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continued to mount Thursday with the state reporting nearly 150 additional known deaths as the current surge saw hospitals statewide approach full capacity.
The state reported 5,817 additional known cases and 147 additional deaths, increasing Arizona’s totals to 435,036 cases and 7,677 deaths.
Arizona on Wednesday had reported 108 additional deaths, and the state’s seven-day rolling average of daily deaths rose from 30.7 on Dec. 2 to 64.1 deaths.
Rolling seven-day averages of daily new cases and COVID-19 testing positivity also increased.
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients rose to 3,884 on Wednesday while s the number of hospital beds not in use continued to shrink, with those available down to a pandemic low of 7%.
“Oftentimes we get told, especially in our staffing meetings, that we have A, B and C patients waiting for rooms,” Eddy De La Torre, an intensive care nurse at a Phoenix-area hospital, told abc15.com. “They can be waiting for a couple hours.”
The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
