PHOENIX (AP) – Arizona reported 3,056 additional COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the fourth day in a week in which the state had daily increases of over 3,000 cases.
The state Department of Health Services said the additional cases raised the statewide total to 63,030 with 1,490 deaths, including 27 reported Thursday.
The department reported that a record 2,453 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, including 611 in intensive care beds and a record 415 on ventilators.
The hospitalization count was up from 2,270 as of Tuesday.
Arizona has become a national hotspot for the coronavirus since Republican Gov. Doug Ducey lifted stay-home restrictions in May.
Health officials have attributed Arizona’s rising number of cases to both increased testing and community spread of the disease.
Ducey last week allowed counties and municipalities to require people to wear face coverings in public, and many have done so, including local governments in metro Phoenix.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. But for some – especially older adults and people with existing health problems – it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
