State health officials added 3,015 new cases and 172 new COVID-19-related deaths to its daily dashboard Dec. 7 as cases in our state continue to surge. In the past week alone, the state Department of Health Services has reported nearly 25,000 new infections and over 450 more fatalities around the state. Arizona is approaching 23,000 deaths since the pandemic began.
We are still seeing the results of Thanksgiving gatherings, and health officials only expect those numbers to stay high after the coming winter holidays.
At the same time, our hospitals are filling up; hospitals and their ICUs remain filled with COVID-19 patients, at their highest levels since last winter. Critical care bed use is at 95% overall, near or at pandemic level highs. And public health officials around the world are on alert as the new omicron variant continues to spread.
To learn the latest on the spread of COVID-19 in Arizona, The Show spoke with Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine of Maricopa County Public Health.
