Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Monday, February 22, 2021
For the fifth straight week, COVID-19 conditions improved across the state.
The week ending Feb. 14 saw a 35% decrease in total COVID-19 cases across the state from the week prior, according to Dr. Joe Gerald, a University of Arizona professor who creates weekly coronavirus epidemiology reports based on Arizona Department of Health Services data.
In Pima County, cases declined 31% from the week before, Gerald said in the report.
The past four weeks have seen 5,308 COVID-19 cases the week beginning Jan. 17, 3,782 cases the week of Jan. 24, 2,473 cases the week of Jan. 31 and 1,586 cases from Feb. 7 to Feb. 13, according to the most-recent Pima County data.
Hospitalizations have also decreased in these four weeks, with 283 reported the week of Jan. 17, 242 the week of Jan. 24, 140 the week of Jan. 31 and 99 the week of Feb. 7.
In the same four-week timeframe, the county reported 173, 101, 64 and 23 coronavirus deaths respectively.
Gerald’s report says the week ending Jan. 17 remains Arizona’s deadliest at 1,011 coronavirus deaths across the state.
COVID-19 cases continue to remain above the threshold of 100 new weekly cases per 100,000 residents, which signifies elevated risk. Gerald said the week of Feb. 14 saw 158 new cases per 100,000 of the population.
As of Monday, Arizona holds the 17th highest rate for transmission in the country, according to CDC data. Gerald says the state is the sixth hardest hit in terms of identified cases.
Arizona saw a 28% decrease in general ward hospital bed usage among COVID-19 patients during the week of Feb. 19, while the number of coronavirus patients occupying ICU beds dropped 26% from the previous week, according to Gerald’s data.
The University of Arizona moved to phase two of its reentry plan Monday with its nearly 8,000 students now able to attend in-person classes of 50 or fewer.
From Feb. 12-21, UA administered 15,047 COVID-19 tests and found 20 positive cases for a positivity rating of 0.1%, down from last week’s percent positivity of 0.3%.
The university’s goal is to keep this number below 5%, which they’ve maintained for several weeks.
“National and state and even Pima County data continues to look better. We are reassured that all of the programs that we have put in place to continue to operate our university have been working well because of the data that we have seen,” said Dr. Richard Carmona, UA's reentry task force director and former U.S. surgeon general. “But with that in mind, we still cannot be complacent. We must still work hard, tirelessly to maintain the privilege to keep our university open, to educate our students and be part of a bigger community.”
Dorm residents or students who attend classes in person are required to take one COVID-19 test a week. To enforce the testing requirement, university students won’t be able to access the school’s Wi-Fi network until they’ve verified they received a COVID-19 test.
The university is loosening some restrictions in dorms and will allow guests in common areas to use recreational amenities such as pianos and game tables, Carmona said.
UA expands hours of operation as a state-run POD
The university began operations as Pima County’s first state-run POD, or point of distribution, on Feb. 18.
Carmona announced on Monday the POD will expand its hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m seven days a week.
“Nationwide, the number of cases in the last couple of weeks is down by 40%. The number of deaths down by 30%. But over the weekend, we as a nation reached a very bad milestone: 500,000 people have died from this disease,” University President Robert C. Robbins said. “This is still a deadly virus. So the fastest way we can get a hold of this pandemic is to get as many people vaccinated as possible.”
With 1,507 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 809,000 as of Monday, Feb. 22, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 138 new cases today, has seen 108,479 of the state’s 809,474 confirmed cases.
As the national death toll topped a half-million people, a total of 15,502 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,149 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 22 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 1,590 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of Feb. 21. That’s less than a third 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 1,117 people visited emergency rooms on Feb. 21 with COVID symptoms, 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.
Friday, February 19, 2021
After the initial announcement Pima County would only receive 12,500 COVID-19 vaccines next week, the county health department announced they expect to receive another 4,600 doses.
The 17,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine will be coupled with the doses that were delayed this week due to harsh winter weather conditions across the U.S. for a total of 33,400 doses.
Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen said this week’s 16,300 delayed doses are stuck at a FedEx facility in Memphis, Tenn., and will arrive Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
This week, the 17,100 doses allocated to the county from the state are expected to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday, Cullen said.
The county now only has insight into the allocation of Moderna vaccines, as the state health department has taken over all Pfizer allotments.
“When we opened up the allotment tool on Wednesday night, we got allotted 12,500,” Cullen said. “At that point, we thought we were canceling almost 4,800 appointments. Today, lo and behold, out of the blue, we get a text that says, ‘Oh, there's 4,600 more doses coming your way.’”
PHOENIX – A House committee has passed a Republican-sponsored bill that would allow Arizona business owners to decide whether to enforce mask mandates for employees and customers, a move supporters say promotes freedom and critics call a threat to health and safety.
“It’s a simple bill – it restores the freedom and the liberties back to the individual, and the individuals that own a business, to make their own decisions,” said newly elected Rep. Joseph Chaplik of Scottsdale, a sponsor of House Bill 2770.
The House Commerce Committee on Tuesday voted 6-4 along party lines in favor of the bill, which runs counter to many city and county government requirements to wear a mask to combat the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Gov. Doug Ducey has not issued a statewide mask requirement but last year allowed local governments to establish such rules.
Chaplik, who spoke while wearing a face shield, referred to emails of support he has received.
With 1,918 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 804,116 as of Friday, Feb. 19, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 211 new cases today, has seen 107,793 of the state’s 802,198 confirmed cases.
With 145 new deaths reported today, a total of 15,421 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,144 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 19 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 1,738 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of Feb. 18. That’s fewer than half 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.
WASHINGTON – The Arizona Department of Education wants to make sure parents understand their kids will be getting letter grades this year – and to drive home the point, the department sent the message in capital letters.
Actions taken by the governor and Legislature earlier this week apply to schools but “NOT individual student grade (ex. ‘A in Chemistry’ or ‘C+ in English’) – those are under the purview of local control,” the department said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement followed Gov. Doug Ducey’s signing of a bill Monday that said state schools will not get grades reflecting their students’ performance on the AzMerit standardized tests this year, because of the ongoing pandemic. An accompanying executive order and statement from Gov. Doug Ducey said the law allowed “some flexibility around the state’s A-F letter grade system.”
Some parents apparently read that to mean the change applied to the letter grades their kids receive – not their kids’ schools.
Phoenix resident Lori Worachek, who has two daughters in the school system, said her initial reaction was that the executive order was unfair to kids.
“It wasn’t the right way to approach it because it’s not fair to the kids that have been working hard,” she said.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
With an already strained vaccine supply, Pima County is seeing delayed COVID-19 vaccine appointments as shipments of doses are slowed due to harsh winter weather conditions across the U.S.
The county says the appointments at risk of being delayed include some second dose vaccine appointments at Tucson Medical Center beginning Feb. 18, as well as appointments at Tucson Convention Center and Banner South beginning Feb. 19.
Two mobile vaccination events set for Feb. 20 have been postponed. The mobile vaccination efforts are targeted to vulnerable populations and will now be held sometime in March, the county announced in a press release.
Further complicating vaccine administration, next week, the county will only receive 12,500 doses for all county-run vaccination sites.
This represents the lowest total of weekly doses allocated to Pima County in 10 weeks, according to the press release.
Last week, Pima County's vaccine supply was decreased to 17,850—a 40% reduction from the previous week. This week, the doses were cut down to 16,300 doses of Moderna, while the new University of Arizona POD was given 1,000 doses.
The state is now taking control of all Pfizer allocations, but the county has no insight into what the Pfizer allotment is.
The University of Arizona began operations Thursday as a state-run POD, or point of distribution, after it served as a county-wide vaccination center since mid-January.
The state plans to eventually transition the site to operate 24/7 and distribute up to 6,000 vaccines a day.
The UA is the third state-run site in Arizona after the State Farm Stadium in Glendale opened on Jan. 11 and the Phoenix Municipal Stadium opened on Feb. 1. It’s the first site to include a walk-up vaccination option in addition to a drive-through site.
The drive-through location is on the University of Arizona Mall and the walk-up site is at the Ina E. Gittings Building.
Adults 65 and over, education and childcare workers and protective service workers are currently eligible to receive the vaccine at the POD through appointments only.
Nearly 12,000 appointments through February have been booked, however.
Currently, the UA POD is administering Pfizer vaccines, as it has the proper cold-chain storage the brand requires.
