Virus surge overwhelms hospitals in Cochise County
PHOENIX (AP) — A surge of COVID-19 cases is overwhelming hospitals in southeastern Arizona. Cochise County said Wednesday that its hospitals were low on resources, struggling with nurse shortages and that patients without COVID-19 were facing long waits to be transferred to larger hospitals. Patients without COVID-19 are facing waits of 48 to 96 hours to be transferred to large hospitals in Tucson. Earlier this week, hospital leaders and public health officials across Arizona pleaded for people to get vaccinated and take other precautions avoid spreading the coronavirus. On Thursday, Arizona reported 3,349 new COVID-19 cases and 75 deaths from the virus.