Arizona is in short supply of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and may have to send patients elsewhere as coronavirus cases soar in the border state, according to the mayor of Tucson.
“Any day, we’re going to have to be sending patients to other states because of our lack of capacity,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero told CNN Tuesday.
“We need help. We’re in crisis,” she added.
ICU capacity in the state was at 91% occupancy Wednesday with 1,537 units full and only 145 stations free for use, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. ICU bed occupancy has steadily increased since April when 68% of beds were filled, according to the government data.
The southwestern state has nearly 109,000 COVID-19 cases with almost 2,000 deaths. Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, has the vast majority of the cases, as the area nears 70,200 confirmed infections of the virus, according to a Wednesday morning calculation by the Arizona Department of Health.
A worker wearing personal protective equipment gathers the tests administered from a car as Mend Urgent Care hosts a drive-thru testing for the COVID-19 virus at the Westfield Fashion Square on April 13, 2020. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
The health department said the state is experiencing “record-breaking” case counts in a Monday Tweet.
We have record-breaking numbers of #COVID19 in Arizona. Help slow the spread of #COVID19 in our communities, wear a mask when you are in public. https://t.co/Nh1dHrT3DG pic.twitter.com/o3H1oPeyB2
— AZ Dept of Health (@AZDHS) July 6, 2020
Romero blames the spike in cases on President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 policy.
“What’s happening in Arizona is a microcosm of the direction that President Trump has led us in,” Romero told CNN. “There is no coordinated effort for testing in this country, much less here in Arizona.”
Florida is also nearing its capacity limit for ICU beds, as the state reported around 84% are full. Twenty-five out of the Sunshine State’s 67 counties have one or more hospitals with not a single ICU bed available, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. (RELATED: Potential COVID-19 Vaccine Bolstered Immune Response In Trials — But Also Had Side Effects)
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