The Arizona Department of Health Service has suspended some transfers of patients from other states as the state’s hospitals admit an increasing number of COVID-19 patients.
Department spokesperson Holly Poynter said Wednesday out-of-state hospitals can still transfer patients into Arizona through direct hospital-to-hospital requests, but the use of the interstate Arizona Surge Line system was suspended until hospital occupancy drops again. The department says virus-related hospitalizations had reached well over 2,000 as of Tuesday, including 531 in intensive care units. Arizona on Wednesday reported nearly 4,000 additional known COVID-19 cases with nine more deaths, increasing the state’s death toll to 6,524.
