Today Arizona reports its highest Covid daily death toll, and it's not even noon yet

Arizona is one of the 29 US states and territories surging with coronavirus cases, and Covid-related hospitalizations are at an all time high this week. And today Arizona has reported 79 deaths, according to the global Covid tracker World-O-Meter, and it's still morning for them.

Of course this dire information didn't stop Trump from squishing 3,000 people, most without masks, into a tight indoor Phoenix, AZ venue yesterday in an attempt to boost his plummeting approval ratings in national polls (as of right now, FiveThirtyEight has his average approval rating at only 41%, with a 55.4% disapproval rating).

One week ago, Arizona's Trump-supporting Governor Doug Ducey downplayed the rise in Covid-19 cases, which shot up after the state began to reopen businesses in May. Although hospitals were sounding alarm bells over fears of running out of ICU beds, Ducey dismissed them, saying, "Those are not needed or necessary right now," and that another stay-at-home order was "not under discussion."

Meanwhile, according to AZCentral two days ago:

Inpatient beds, ICU beds, ventilators in use and emergency department visits for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients all hit their highest-ever numbers Sunday, according to hospital data released by the Arizona Department of Health Services Monday.

The highest jump came in inpatient beds, with 1,992 beds occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients Sunday, compared with 1,942 Saturday.

As of Sunday, 82% of current inpatient beds and 84% of ICU beds were in use for COVID-19 and other patients.

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