PHOENIX — Maricopa County has marked six more heat-related deaths since last week, bringing the total this year to 18.
Last week, a weekly heat report released by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health reported 12 people died due to heat as of July 11.
This week, the department confirmed the additional six with 69 deaths still under investigation.
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The department says 13 of this year’s deaths have been “heat caused” while five were “heat related.”
For the first time this week, the department listed both indoor and outdoor deaths.
The age group that has the highest number of deaths is 75 years and older. Six percent of the deaths were in the age group 5-19 years old.
Maricopa County data shows half of the deaths recorded were not in the homeless population, which is different from last week. The data shows 67% were not homeless while 33% were homeless.
Data from the county also shows an uptick of deaths currently under investigation this heat season in the first part of July, when temperatures have been steadily staying high.
Heat-related visits to Valley hospitals are also spiking. According to the most recent report, about 1.9% of all hospital visits on July 15 were heat-related.
The county health department has reported on surveillance data for heat-related visits since 2018 and this is the single highest day for heat-related hospital visits on record.
