PHOENIX — Dr. Joshua LaBaer, executive director for Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, held a press conference Wednesday outlining some concerning statistics regarding coronavirus in the community.
Arizona is now in a new surge of #COVID19 cases, says @ASU Biodesign director.
— Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) October 21, 2020
“We are very close for a seven day trailing avg. to crossing the thousand new cases a day mark.”
Also says we’re not testing enough, in the director’s view
"We are very close for a seven-day trailing average to crossing the 1,000 new cases a day mark," he said.
FULL COVERAGE: Track Arizona case counts, updates from health officials
Hospitalizations, inpatient numbers, ventilator use and ICU bed usage are all increasing, according to information from the news conference. Both the hospital trends and testing trends indicate we are in the middle of a COVID-19 surge.
LaBaer said, in his view, Arizona is still not testing enough, and testing is one of the best tools to fighting COVID-19 because it tells us who has the virus.
Along with concerns of rising cases and hospitalizations, LaBaer said he recommends that groups should be limited to 10 people or less.
Arizona health officials reported more than 1,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday, one of the highest daily counts seen in about a month. It's a worrying sign for some experts, who said recently that the state could be on the path to exponential growth.
FULL SECTION: Everything you need to know about coronavirus
LaBaer said we need to continue to wear masks, communicate, limit gathering sizes and conduct more tests. He said "super-spreader events" are also contributing to the increase in cases.