Arizona doctor: hospitals seeing massive virus surge

An Arizona doctor is warning that a "massive surge" in COVID-19 patients threatens to overwhelm hospitals in his state.

Dr. Matt Heinz, a physician at the Tucson Medical Center, believes relaxed restrictions and failure to wear masks led to a record number of cases.

"We're very close to overwhelming our hospitals in terms of the number of beds and also the number of ICU beds. That's not a good place to be at all. And we're not the only state in this position," he said.

Heinz, who is running for a seat on the Pima County Board of Supervisors and previously served in the state Legislature, said the state may need to shut down businesses and workplaces to slow down the spread of coronavirus.

"We still absolutely have to bring this curve down and get it to flatten and then go the other direction, so we can make sure that to have adequate hospital space to care for everybody in the community who needs care," he said.

Arizona is one of several states reporting a surge in COVID-19 cases, prompting administrators and health experts to warn that politicians and a tired-of-being-cooped-up public are letting a disaster unfold.

The U.S. recorded a one-day total of 34,700 new COVID-19 cases, the highest level since late April, when the number peaked at 36,400, according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

While newly confirmed infections have been declining steadily in early hot spots such as New York and New Jersey, several other states set single-day records this week, including Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma.

Arizona on Tuesday reported 79 additional deaths from COVID-19, but health officials said two-thirds of the increase resulted from analysis of deaths not previously attributed to COVID-19.

The Department of Health Services on Tuesday had reported additional 42 deaths.

Department spokesman Chris Minnick said 53 of the additional deaths reported Wednesday were identified as caused by COVID-19 through analysis of an accumulation of death certificates. The last such analysis of an accumulation of death certificates occurred in May, he said.

The department on Wednesday reported 1,795 additional cases, raising Arizona's total to 59,974. The increase was smaller than those reported on other recent days, including a record 3,591 Tuesday.

The department reported 2,270 people were hospitalized Tuesday because of COVID-19, up from 2,136 Monday.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care beds dropped to 581 Tuesday from a record 614 Monday.

Arizona has emerged as a hotspot since Gov. Doug Ducey lifted stay-home orders in May.

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.

(Representative Image)