Tuesday, January 5, 2021
With more than 5,900 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 567,000 as of Tuesday, Jan 5, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 621 new cases today, has seen 75,584 of the state’s 567,474 confirmed cases.
A total of 9,317 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,137 deaths in Pima County, according to the Jan. 5 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Jan. 4, a record 4,789 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27.
A total of 1,984 people visited emergency rooms on Jan 4 with COVID symptoms, down from the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29. That number had previously peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A record number of 1,096 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Jan. 4. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22.
A website that tracks COVID infections across the globe reports that Arizona now has highest rate of COVID infection in the world.
As reported yesterday by ABC-15’s Garrett Archer, the website 91-divoc.com, which uses data from Johns Hopkins University, reports that Arizona is seeing 121.8 infections per 100,000 people on a seven-day average, compared to 64.5 infections per 100,000 for the United States as a whole.
The Pima County Health Department reported that in the first four days of 2021, Pima County hospitals reported 70 COVID deaths. Other Pima County Health Department stats from Jan. 4:
Monday, January 4, 2021
After 25 years of serving specialty Greek dishes with a casual style, Fronimo's on Speedway is closing their doors. Thanks to shifting their business to take-out only, Fronimo's was able to survive nearly a year of pandemic difficulties. Ultimately, owners George and Tracy Fronimakis cited their landlord "astronomically" raising their rent as the reason for their closure.
"We have truly given our love to this business for 25 years now, raising our daughter (and now our granddaughter) in this restaurant, and we have greatly enjoyed getting to know our wonderful customers and your families over all these years," Tracy and George wrote in their closure announcement. "We want to thank all of you for supporting our family business for so long; we definitely could not have done it without you."
The Fronimakis family is currently searching for another location to move their restaurant, but acknowledge the pandemic has limited their ability to find a new space and move. Should they find a suitable location, they hope to re-hire their same employees — some of whom have worked at Fronimo's for more than a decade.
Fronimo's won Best Greek Food in our annual Best of Tucson poll multiple times over the years, and served as a meeting place for several local organizations.
"We will keep you updated on our website and Facebook pages; please check in with us from time to time," Tracy and George wrote. "Until we meet again."
In Pima County, the entire month of December saw nearly 40% of the total number of COVID-19 cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a memorandum from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
Furthermore, a new public health advisory issued by the county’s health department revealed one out of every 1,000 Pima County residents has died from COVID-19.
With large gatherings over the holidays, experts expect case counts and coronavirus deaths to increase with “no plateau yet in the immediate horizon,” the administrator’s memo says.
As of Dec. 30, Pima County had only 5 ICU beds available. Bed usage hit a record of 370 ICU beds occupied, with 53% of them holding COVID-19 patients. There were 42 medical surge beds available, according to the county administrator’s memo.
Meanwhile, 87 patients waited in emergency departments to receive care in inpatient beds—more than 60% of them with COVID-19.
Setting a new record for the county, 145 ventilators were in use by coronavirus patients out of 250 in use overall.
In a Facebook post on Dec. 31, the Pima County Health Department reported that for the entire month of December, there was an average of 11 COVID-19 deaths per day.
With more than 5,100 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 561,000 as of Monday, Jan 4, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 855 new cases today, has seen 74,963 of the state’s 561,542 confirmed cases.
A total of 9,064 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,084 deaths in Pima County, according to the Jan. 4 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Jan. 3, a record 4,647 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27.
A total of 2,001 people visited emergency rooms on Jan 3 with COVID symptoms, down from the record high of 2,341 set last Tuesday, Dec. 29. That number had previously peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A record number of 1,082 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Jan. 3. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22.
The Pima County Health Department reported that in the month of December:
• There was an average of 11 COVID-19 deaths per day.
• There was an average of 130 COVID-19 positive patients admitted per day.
• ICU bed availability averaged 3%. Medical/surgical bed availability averaged 4%
• There was an average of 545 COVID-19 positive inpatients at county hospitals each day.
• An average 154 ICU beds were used by COVID-19 patients each day.
• There was an average of 104 ventilators in use for COVID-19 patients per day.
The health department continues to ask residents to stay home and minimize activities that involve contact with people outside of their households, stay physically distanced and practice mask-wearing and frequent sanitization.
“This isn’t just about COVID anymore and whether you think it’s a real problem or not. The patients filling these hospitals are absolutely real and if you have a heart attack, or if you get into a car accident, or your appendix bursts, there is a real possibility that you may not get the timely care you need to save your life if we don’t get control of this virus,” said Dr. Theresa Cullen, director of the Pima County Health Department. “People are dying yet many of those deaths are preventable if the people of this community stay home, wear their masks and avoid people they don’t live with as much as possible.”
Thursday, December 31, 2020
The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department announced the second round of Economic Impact Payments are in the process of being distributed to millions of Americans who received a first round of payments last spring.
Individuals are eligible for $600 and married couples who file a joint return will receive $1,200. In addition, citizens could receive an extra $600 for each qualifying child. Dependents over the age of 17 are not eligible for the child payment. Individuals who filed an adjusted gross income of more than $75,000 or married couples who made more than $150,000 in 2019 are ineligible for the payment.
In most cases, funds should begin arriving either through direct deposit, paper check, or a debit card by early January. The IRS began mailing paper checks on Wednesday, Dec. 30 and direct deposits have already arrived for some Americans.
Those who did not receive the first round of payments earlier in the year will still be able to claim it on their upcoming 2020 taxes. IRS representatives recommend taxpayers to review the eligibility criteria to make sure they maximize their benefits. Economic Impact Payments will be referred to as Recovery Rebate Credit on Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR due to being an advance payment of the RRC.
The second round of Economic Impact Payments is funded through the Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021, which was approved by lawmakers earlier this week.
To check if your Economic Impact Payment has been processed, check out the Get My Payment tool at IRS.gov.
With more than 7,718 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases now stands higher than 520,000 as of Thursday, Dec. 31, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 1,085 new cases today, has seen 69,522 of the state’s 520,207 confirmed cases.
A total of 8,864 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,064 deaths in Pima County, according to the Dec. 31 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Dec. 30, 4,564 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27.
A total of 2,304 people visited emergency rooms on Dec. 30 with COVID symptoms. That number is down slightly from yesterday's 2020 peak of 2,341.
A total of 1,028 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Dec. 30, down from yesterday's peak of 1,076. The low was 114 on Sept. 22.
One out of every 1,000 Pima County residents has died from COVID-19; Hospitals overwhelmedPima County Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen shared troubling details on the accelerated transmission of COVID-19 throughout the county amid a new public health advisory at a virtual press conference Wednesday.
WASHINGTON – The numbers can be numbing. And that’s exactly what health officials fear.
More than a half-million Arizonans have contracted COVID-19 and more than 8,700 have died from it so far, according to state data. The disease is surging again, with one week this month seeing an average of 7,770 new cases a day, soaring past the previous high set in July of a seven-day average of 3,482 new cases.
Hospital capacity is being stretched to the breaking point, with COVID-19 patients taking up a record 61% of beds in the state’s intensive care units as of Tuesday, and health care workers struggling under the strain.
But news of the disease, while prominent, does not command the headlines or the attention it did just months ago.
“The phenomenon some call COVID fatigue is real, and it’s dangerous,” said Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, in a late-November video update.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Pima County Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen shared troubling details on the accelerated transmission of COVID-19 throughout the county amid a new public health advisory at a virtual press conference Wednesday.
Public health officials expect to see more coronavirus cases in December than the eight months between March and October combined.
Currently, one out of every 1,000 Pima County residents has died from COVID-19.
Amid confirmation of a more contagious strain of COVID-19 that originated in the UK being identified in Colorado, Cullen said Arizona health officials are actively looking for the coronavirus variant and have not found any cases in the state, although “that could change quite rapidly,” she said.
Cullen said the county’s hospital beds and ICU capacity remains “very limited,” and many facilities are relying on the Arizona Surge Line to transfer patients based on their necessary level of care.
This morning, there were five ICU beds and 42 medical surge beds available in Pima County. Meanwhile, more than 80 patients were waiting in emergency rooms for admission, Cullen said.
With more than 5,200 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 512,000 as of Wednesday, Dec. 30, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 758 new cases today, has seen 68,437 of the state’s 512,489 confirmed cases.
A total of 8,718 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,039 deaths in Pima County, according to the Dec. 30 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Dec. 29, a record 4,526 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27.
A record number of 2,341people visited emergency rooms on Dec. 29 with COVID symptoms. That number had previously peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A record number of 1,076 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Dec. 29. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22.
Healthcare leaders continue to plead with public to stay home as much as possible as healthcare system is overloaded
The Pima County Health Department shared a number of sobering statistics about COVID-19 this week:
• There is an all-time high of 1,512 medical/surgical beds in use in Pima County.
• Med/Surg bed availability hit an all-time low with 2%, or just 33 beds available in the county.
• On Monday morning there were 96 patients waiting for an inpatient bed, 62 of whom were COVID-19 patients.
• There are 669 hospital patients who are COVID positive.
• ICU beds usage hit an all-time high with 364 ICU beds in use, 198 are COVID-19 patients, the most ever. Despite an increase of 20 ICU beds in the past week, only 2% (9 beds) remain available. Hospitals continue to implement their surge plans to add ICU capacity.
• COVID-19 patients account for 54% of ICU bed and ventilator usage.
• There was a record high of 27 COVID-19 ICU admissions in a single day in the past 24 hours.
• On Christmas Day, County hospitals reported 19 COVID-19 deaths.
The health department is asking residents to stay home and minimize activities that involve contact with people outside of their households, stay physically distanced and practice mask-wearing and frequent sanitization.
“This isn’t just about COVID anymore and whether you think it’s a real problem or not. The patients filling these hospitals are absolutely real and if you have a heart attack, or if you get into a car accident, or your appendix bursts, there is a real possibility that you may not get the timely care you need to save your life if we don’t get control of this virus,” said Dr. Theresa Cullen, the director of the Pima County Health Department who herself contracted COVID-19 earlier this month. “People are dying yet many of those deaths are preventable if the people of this community stay home, wear their masks and avoid people they don’t live with as much as possible.”
Pima County under curfew
Pima County remains under a mandatory 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in an attempt to combat Southern Arizona's rising number of coronavirus cases.
Penalties for a nonessential business found violating curfew range from having their business permit suspended or revoked.
The mandatory curfew will stay in place until coronavirus infection rates drop below 100 per 100,000 people, according to county officials.
While businesses will now face losing their operating permits if they don't comply with the curfew, it "carries no penalty associated with the individual, as it would be difficult to enforce a curfew against individuals without the cooperation of law enforcement," Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wrote in the memo regarding the memo.
Get tested: Pima County has free COVID testing
Pima County offers a number of testing centers around town.
You’ll have a nasal swab test at the Kino Event Center (2805 E. Ajo Way) the Udall Center (7200 E. Tanque Verde Road) and downtown (88 E. Broadway).
The center at the northside Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center, 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road, involves a saliva test designed by ASU.
In addition, the Pima County Health Department, Pima Community College and Arizona State University have partnered to create new drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites at three Pima Community College locations. At the drive-thru sites, COVID-19 testing will be offered through spit samples instead of nasal canal swabs. Each site will conduct testing from 9 a.m. to noon, and registration is required in advance. Only patients 5 years or older can be tested.
Schedule an appointment at these or other pop-up sites at pima.gov/covid19testing.
The University of Arizona’s antibody testing has been opened to all Arizonans as the state attempts to get a handle on how many people have been exposed to COVID-19 but were asymptomatic or otherwise did not get a test while they were ill. To sign up for testing, visit https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu/home.
—with additional reporting from Austin Counts, Jeff Gardner, Nicole Ludden and Mike Truelsen
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
With more than 2,700 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 507,000 as of Tuesday, Dec. 29, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 1,313 new cases today, has seen 67,679 of the state’s 507,222 confirmed cases.
A total of 8,640 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,023 deaths in Pima County, according to the Dec. 29 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to soar as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly, putting stress on Arizona’s hospitals and surpassing July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Dec. 28, a record 4,475 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The summer peak of 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients was set on July 13; that number hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27.
A total of 2,117 people visited emergency rooms on Dec. 28 with COVID symptoms. That number, which hit a new record of 2,166 earlier this month, had previously peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A total of 1,053 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Dec. 28, breaking the 1,000 threshold for the first time. The summer’s record number of patients was 970, set on July 13. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22.
Healthcare system continues to buckle under strain
The Pima County Health Department shared a number of sobering statistics about COVID-19 yesterday:
• There is an all-time high of 1,512 medical/surgical beds in use in Pima County.
• Med/Surg bed availability hit an all-time low with 2%, or just 33 beds available in the county.
• On Monday morning there were 96 patients waiting for an inpatient bed, 62 of whom were COVID-19 patients.
• There are 669 hospital patients who are COVID positive.
• ICU beds usage hit an all-time high with 364 ICU beds in use, 198 are COVID-19 patients, the most ever. Despite an increase of 20 ICU beds in the past week, only 2% (9 beds) remain available. Hospitals continue to implement their surge plans to add ICU capacity.
• COVID-19 patients account for 54% of ICU bed and ventilator usage.
• There was a record high of 27 COVID-19 ICU admissions in a single day in the past 24 hours.
• On Christmas Day, County hospitals reported 19 COVID-19 deaths.
Last week, the Pima County Health Department warned that the healthcare system is in danger of becoming overwhelmed within the next two to three weeks if the spread of COVID-19 continues at its current pace.
