Arizona Stubbornly Remains in Moderate to Substantial Spread
Arizona case rates remain “stuck” at the threshold differentiating substantial and moderate risk because of the more transmissible variant becoming dominant in AZ (e.g., B.1.1.7) and because of the policy decisions by the governor and ADHS director to eliminate all required mitigation measures and again prohibiting counties from having mask mandates. Last week Covid-19 cases increased 6% from the previous week. The highest rates are among those 15 – 24 years and 25 – 64 years of age, 116 and 81 cases per 100K residents per week, respectively.
Hospitalizations also continue to increase. As of April 22nd, 594 (7%) of Arizona’s 8605 general ward beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients, a 4% increase from the previous week’s 569 occupied beds. COVID ICU bed use is increasing more substantially than general ward beds. Eleven percent (11%) of Arizona’s 1727 ICU beds are occupied with Covid-19 patients, a 21% increase from the prior week’s count of 154 patients
In terms of vaccinations, Arizona continues to rank in the bottom half of states (30th of the 50 states) with 34% of Arizona’s adult population fully vaccinated and another 15% having received one dose (49% with ≥1 dose). Arizona also ranks in the bottom half of states when it comes to vaccinating seniors, with 78% of the ≥65 population having received ≥1 dose.
