Arizona on Tuesday reported over 7,000 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases for the fourth time in five days and over 150 more virus deaths as the current spike continued to keep hospitals crowded statewide.
The additional 7,212 cases and 154 deaths increased the state’s pandemic totals to 1,411,813 cases and 24,509 deaths, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard.
Arizona on Monday reported 14,192 additional cases, the most on a single day since January 2020. Officials said that large number reflected both lower than normal reporting last Sunday, when just 701 additional cases were reported, but also the surge.
“Like the rest of the country, Arizona is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases as the Omicron variant spreads,” the Department of Health Services said Tuesday on Twitter.
The dashboard said COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide increased for the third straight day, with 2,463 virus patients occupying inpatient beds as of Monday.
Arizona’s hospital association on Monday said the health care system was stretched thin and urged people to get vaccinated and to consider options for care, including discussing symptoms with their primary care providers, using telemedicine, and going to urgent care if they don’t need emergency treatment.
“We want to be there for you in the event of an emergency. Care in our hospitals is safe, but our ability to provide safe care is in jeopardy. We need your help,” the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare association said on Twitter.
According to Johns Hopkins University data, Arizona’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases rose over the past two weeks, from 2,914.6 on December 19 to 5,986.9 on Sunday, while the rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 68.4 to 53.3 during the same period.
In northwestern Arizona, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 for a resolution recognizing a public health crisis due to severe staffing shortages at hospitals in the county, a generally conservative area with low vaccination rates.
The resolution was approved Monday after the board, also by a 3-2 vote, on Dec. 20 rejected a request by hospital officials to declare a state of emergency because of the hospital crisis, Today’s News-Herald reported.
Kingman Regional Medical Center CEO Will McConnell said the board’s official recognition of the crisis will allow local hospitals to make a stronger case for state and federal help with getting more nurses.
Supervisors Hildy Angius voted against the resolution.
“For the government to have a resolution, recognizing this as a crisis — when a lot of that crisis was caused because of government intervention — I don’t think it helps you,” Angius told McConnell.
