Arizona is reporting a record number of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) who have or are suspected of having the coronavirus, announcing more than 10,000 new cases and 42 deaths due to the virus on Sunday.
The Republic of Arizona reported on Monday that 4,390 inpatients with COVID-19 were confirmed the day before, significantly higher than the peak of 3,517 seen in the summer. About 1,007 suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients were in ICUs, breaking the previous record of 970 in July.
According to the Arizona coronavirus data panel, 91 percent of ICU beds in the state are occupied and more than half by COVID-19 patients. Currently, there are less than 200 ICU beds and 1,000 non-ICU beds available, reports the Republic.
Along with the record number of patients in the ICU, the number of Arizona coronavirus patients on ventilators also hit a record high on Sunday: 715.
The newspaper notes that the unusually high number of new cases reported, 10,086, is due to the fact that the state is adding several days of cases at the same time after the recent holidays. The number of new cases exceeded 2,000 in 31 of the last 33 days, reports the Republic, and in 27 of those days more than 4,000 cases were recorded.
In the U.S., Arizona currently ranks third in terms of seven-day new case averages, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. data panel, surpassed only by California and Tennessee.
The impact of recent holidays has not yet been seen, but experts have warned that a further increase may be imminent, as thousands of families have gathered, despite warnings from government agencies against it.
The state started its coronavirus vaccine plan on December 14, reports the Republic. Frontline health professionals, first responders and those in vulnerable populations were prioritized.
The order in which vaccines are distributed has been left to state governments and the governor of Arizona to decide. Doug Ducey
Doug DuceyElectors voted for Biden amid latent national tensions Chris Christie calls the legal theory of Trump’s legal team an “absurd” Twitter briefly limits users to interact with Trump’s tweets about “stolen” election MORE (R) has not yet announced who will be next in line, although the newspaper notes that he has assured residents that the vaccine will be free for everyone once it is widely available.