/ Modified dec 28, 2021 noon

Arizona hospital official: Avoid New Year's gatherings

The state added nearly 2,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

coronavirus 3 hero A Centers for Disease Control illustration of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
CDC

The chief clinical officer of Arizona's largest health care system says the pandemic continues to strain hospitals statewide so Arizonans should avoid large New Year’s gatherings even if masked and fully vaccinated.

Dr. Marjorie Bessell acknowledged that avoiding gatherings is difficult. But he said hospitals remain crowded, with exhausted clinical workers who have skipped gatherings in order to care for patients.

The state's coronavirus dashboard on Tuesday reported 1,976 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases, well under the over 7,600 reported Monday following reporting delays over the holiday weekend.

Arizona on Tuesday also reported 162 virus deaths as the state’s pandemic fatality toll passed 24,000.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona