Tuesday, March 16, 2021
With 497 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 834,000 as of Tuesday, March 16, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 56 new cases today, has seen 111,400 of the state’s 833,878 confirmed cases.
With 21 new deaths reported this morning, a total of 16,574 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,304 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 15 report.
A total of 743 coronavirus patients were in the hospital as of March 15. That’s roughly 15% of the number hospitalized at the peak of the winter surge, which reached 5,082 on Jan. 11. The summer peak was 3,517, which was set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients was 468, set on Sept. 27, 2020.
A total of 837 people visited emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms ron March 15. That number represents 36% of the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. That number had peaked during the summer wave at 2,008 on July 7, 2020; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28, 2020.
Monday, March 15, 2021
The University of Arizona will move to Stage 3 during the week of March 29, allowing in-person classes and flex in-person classes of up to 100 students, UA President Dr. Robert C Robbins announced in a briefing this morning.
On Feb 22, the university moved to Stage 2, offering in-person learning to courses with 50 or fewer students. They will continue in Stage 2 for the next two weeks.
On campus, the rate of positivity remains low, with fewer than 0.2 percent of the more than 13,000 tests in the past 10 days.
In Pima County on the week of Feb. 21, the rate of positivity dropped to 5.3 percent, nearing the goal of 5 percent for classification of minimal transmission. For the same week, the county had 78 cases of COVID per 100,000 residents, while 3 percent of reported hospital visits were for COVID-like illnesses.
While these metrics continue to decline, a total of 39 cases of the UK variant have appeared in Arizona. On March 12, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), the Yuma County Public Health Services District and Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) reported three cases of the Brazilian variant (P.1.).
Robbins said with the help of their expert team, they feel confident that it’s safe to move forward.
“Despite the variance, the incidence and prevalence of COVID-19 continues to be low, particularly on the campus,” said Robbins. “There's not been any major outbreaks on the campus throughout, over a year of this.”
Robbins adds that they feel especially confident as vaccination efforts increase.
The University of Arizona state POD administered 15,354 vaccines the past week of March 8 to March 14, with a total of 63,745 vaccines since January.
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WASHINGTON – Arizona health officials said the state is already on track to meet President Joe Biden’s challenge of allowing all adults to register for COVID-19 vaccinations by May 1.
The directive came Thursday night, the anniversary of the declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic, during Biden’s first nationally televised address as president. He mourned the loss of more than a half-million Americans to the disease but also painted an optimistic picture of the future – including his call for all states to throw open vaccine eligibility by May 1.
“Let me be clear: That doesn’t mean everyone’s going to have that shot immediately, but it means you’ll be able to get in line beginning May 1,” Biden said.
It is unclear what authority Biden has to enforce a deadline, but the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services on Friday called May 1 “a very doable timeline.”
Dr. Cara Christ, the health department director, said that counties are moving at their own pace but that all are currently expected to open eligibility to those 16 years and older by May.
To date, counties have limited registration to phases, with older, ailing and essential workers getting first crack. As of Friday, four counties were administering vaccines to people 65 and older, while nine more had lowered the threshold to people 55 and older.
Two counties, Gila and Greenlee, have already started allowing anyone older than 16 to register for a shot.
With 638 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 833,000 as of Monday, March 15, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 137 new cases today, has seen 111,344 of the state’s 833,381 confirmed cases.
With no new deaths reported this morning, a total of 16,553 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,300 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 15 report.
A total of 716 coronavirus patients were in the hospital as of March 11 That’s roughly 14% of the number hospitalized at the peak of the winter surge, which reached 5,082 on Jan. 11. The summer peak was 3,517, which was set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients was 468, set on Sept. 27, 2020.
The number of people visiting emergency rooms with COVID-like dropped to 834 on March 14. That number represents 36 percent of the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. That number had peaked during the summer wave at 2,008 on July 7, 2020; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28, 2020.
A total of 210 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on March 11, which is roughly 18% of the record 1,183 ICU patients set on Jan. 11. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22, 2020.
Cases continue decline
Arizona has seen eight straight weeks of decline in COVID cases through the week ending March 7, which saw 5,721 new confirmed COVID cases. That was a 17% drop from the previous week, according to Dr. Joe Gerald, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Gerald, who has been tracking the spread of the virus with weekly reports for a year, said the state had moved from high risk to substantial risk and hospital capacity was low enough to meet the state’s needs. New cases had fallen to 79 per 100,000 residents and PCR testing had dropped to 9%, putting it in the 5% to 10% zone for “optimal public health practice,” according to Gerald.
Gerald said those with high risk for COVID complications, such as the elderly or those with preexisting conditions, should continue to stay home as much as possible until they are fully vaccinated. Everyone else should continue wearing masks, washing their hands and keeping six feet of distance from people outside their household.
However, some doctors are still urging more caution.
Phoenix endocrinologist Dr. Ricardo Correa, Tucson family medicine specialist Dr. Cadey Harrel and Glendale obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Dionne Mills spoke out against loosening restrictions in Arizona at a press conference last week.
Friday, March 12, 2021
Three Arizona doctors warned today of the fatal consequences of loosening restrictions without first vaccinating the public.
Phoenix endocrinologist Dr. Ricardo Correa, Tucson family medicine specialist Dr. Cadey Harrel and Glendale obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Dionne Mills spoke out against loosening restrictions in Arizona.
“For the past year, too many people have struggled, sacrificed and died to get at this point in the pandemic,” said Correa. “We are close to eradicating COVID-19, but if you don't make the final effort, we are close to be back to where we were last year.”
Back-to-back executive orders on March 3 and March 5 by Gov. Doug Ducey, moved Arizona closer to reopening. The first mandated schools reopen by March 15 or after Spring Break. The second removed capacity limits on businesses and allowed spring training baseball and other professional and collegiate sports to operate after the approval of a safety and public health plan.
On March 3, the Arizona House passed bill, HB 2770 with a vote of 31-28, which asserts businesses are not required to enforce mask mandates from the state, a city, town or county or any other jurisdiction. The bill has now passed to the Senate for consideration.
Faced with these developments, Harrel urges Gov Ducey and Arizona legislators to “do the right thing and to listen to the science.”
Harrel, the CEO of Agave Community Health and Wellness, said that loosening restrictions should not occur until we have achieved herd immunity, or community immunity, which epidemiologists and health experts say occurs when 70-90 percent of the population is vaccinated and enough people have immunity to stop the spread of the COVID-19 within the general public.
As of March 12, little over 10 percent of Arizonans have been fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses of either Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of the Janssen vaccine, and about 20 percent have received a single dose.
“The facts tell us again and again that until we achieve that 70% of vaccination rate in Arizona's population, that we need to continue to double mask, we need to continue to physically distance and we need to take every precaution necessary to prevent the spread and further unnecessary death in our community,” said Harrel.
For the week of Feb 21, Arizona is at 98 cases per 100,000, 6.5% of tests were positive and 3.5 % of reported hospital visits were for COVID-like illnesses.
With 1,397 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 832,000 as of Friday, March 12, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 110 new cases today, has seen 111,041 of the state’s 831,832 confirmed cases.
With 55 new deaths reported today, a total of 16,519 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,293 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 12 report.
A total of 831 coronavirus patients were in the hospital as of March 11 That’s roughly 16% of the number hospitalized at the peak of the winter surge, which reached 5,082 on Jan. 11. The summer peak was 3,517, which was set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients was 468, set on Sept. 27, 2020.
The number of people visiting emergency rooms with COVID-like symptoms has bumped up this week, with 1,1097 people visiting ERs on March 11 with COVID symptoms. Still, that number is less than half of the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. That number had peaked during the summer wave at 2,008 on July 7, 2020; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28, 2020.
A total of 236 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on March 11, which is roughly 20% of the record 1,183 ICU patients set on Jan. 11. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22, 2020.
UK variant circulating in Pima County
Four cases of the COVID-19 UK variant have been found in Pima County, said Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen during a briefing this afternoon.
Pima County Health Department has been tracking genomic sequencing of positive COVID-19 PCR tests (aka the nasal swab test). They send a random sample of those positive PCR tests to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Flagstaff for sequencing, Cullen said.
This process takes up about three to four weeks from the collection and procession of the sample to getting a positive result and then sending it to a lab like TGen, where the genetic sequencing takes place. In other words, the variant has been in Pima County for at least three to four weeks since the sample was collected, Cullen said.
According to the CDC, this variant, first detected in the U.S. in late December 2020, spreads more easily and quickly than other variants. Some experts in the U.K. reported the variant may be associated with an increased risk in death, but this finding has not been confirmed.
“It's not to make the community frightened, but it is to remind the community that COVID-19 is a deadly disease,” said Cullen. “It has significant morbidity and mortality and the way we protect ourselves right now is to do the three W's, to abide by the recommendations that we've given.”
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Four cases of the COVID-19 UK variant have been found in Pima County, said Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen during a briefing this afternoon.
Pima County Health Department has been tracking genomic sequencing of positive COVID-19 PCR tests (aka the nasal swab test). They send a random sample of those positive PCR tests to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Flagstaff for sequencing, Cullen said.
This process takes up about three to four weeks from the collection and procession of the sample to getting a positive result and then sending it to a lab like TGen, where the genetic sequencing takes place. In other words, the variant has been in Pima County for at least three to four weeks since the sample was collected, Cullen said.
According to the CDC, this variant, first detected in the U.S. in late December 2020, spreads more easily and quickly than other variants. Some experts in the U.K. reported the variant may be associated with an increased risk in death, but this finding has not been confirmed.
“It's not to make the community frightened, but it is to remind the community that COVID-19 is a deadly disease,” said Cullen. “It has significant morbidity and mortality and the way we protect ourselves right now is to do the three W's, to abide by the recommendations that we've given.”
When asked if the uptick in hospitalizations for COVID-19, may be related to the variant, Cullen could not be sure of a causal relationship, but said they will monitor both the spread of the variant and the increase in hospitalizations.
Cullen said Pima County has administered a little over 330,000 vaccines. Roughly 209,000 people have received the first dose and around 134,000 are fully vaccinated.
Cullen said daily vaccinations vary from about 5,000 to 9,000, with the Tucson Convention Center currently averaging around 1,400 to 1,500 and sometimes delivering above 2,000 doses, while the UA POD’s goal is around 3,500 to 4,000 vaccines a day.
Pima County Expands Eligibility for 55+ and Frontline Essential Workers
Pima County will expand eligibility to those 55 and older and as well as frontline essential workers, defined by Cullen as “someone who needs to work with the public and are routinely less than six feet for more than 15 minutes in those situations.”
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Front-line essential works are defined as people who work in-person, onsite and in close proximity—within six feet—with the public and co-workers and work in the following industries:
Manufacturing
Grocery/Convenience Stores (and Carnicerias)
Restaurants/Bars
U.S. Postal Service
Public transit (buses, light rail, Uber, Lyft, taxis)
Those eligible are able to begin applying for appointments at 9 a.m. Friday, March 12. The Pima County Health Department notes many appointments scheduled at the large county-supported sites will be set for April 2021 at the earliest.
“This is our biggest group of newly eligible people so far and we understand that people will be very eager to register for an appointment as this phase opens up,” Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen said. “The challenge will be trying to get the vaccine to the most vulnerable people in this group as so many register for their spot in line.”
WASHINGTON – As many as 1.5 million Arizona children could benefit from an expansion of the child tax credit that would mean monthly checks to parents of up to $300 per child if approved by Congress this week.
The expansion is a little-discussed portion of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration’s sweeping pandemic relief bill that could win final approval from the House Wednesday.
Besides expanding the size of the benefit from the current $2,000 per child to as much as $3,600, the plan would turn what is now a tax credit into a regular monthly check, a major change that one advocate said could “really put a dent in child poverty.”
“There have been estimates that the child tax credit expansion will actually cut poverty for Black children by 52%, Hispanic children by 45% and Indigenous children by 61%,” said Alexandra Cawthorne Gaines, vice president of the Center for American Progress. “That is not insignificant.”
Supporters said the change would also benefit the economy by putting money directly into the hands of parents, who are expected to spend it on food, clothes, housing and other necessities.
