Tuesday, September 22, 2020
"Every city and every neighborhood loses an essential part of itself when local history and culture are lost," says Hotel Congress owners Shana and Richard Oseran in letter to the community. "But the Cup Cafe, Club Congress, Copper Hall and 40 hotel rooms will soon be back and better than ever. The cultural hub will once again serve the community, which holds the true ownership of this historic landmark."
With the reopening comes a series of new events in the Congress plaza: Rhythm & Roots Taco Tuesday features Americana music and tacos from 6:30 to 10 p.m.; Soul Food Wednesday runs from 7 p.m. to midnight; and Blues & BBQ runs Sundays from 4 to 8 p.m.
Cup Café's new menu includes vegan breakfast tacos, mussels, hemp tamales and cauliflower tacos. Hotel Congress' new cocktails include specialty martinis, sidecars, margaritas and Manhattans. Cup Café now also features a Bloody Mary bar from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
For more information, visit hotelcongress.com
With 595 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 215,000 as of Tuesday, Sept. 22, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County had seen 24,798 of the state’s 214,846 confirmed cases.
With 20 new deaths today, a total of 5,498 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 617 deaths in Pima County, according to the Sept. 22 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases continues to decline from July peaks, although it jumped by 55 people yesterday. ADHS reported that as of Sept. 21, 527 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The number of hospitalized COVID patients peaked at 3,517 on July 13.
A total of 867 people visited emergency rooms on Sept. 21 with COVID symptoms, a jump of 38 from the previous day. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.
A total of 122 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Sept. 20. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.
On a week-by-week basis in Pima County, the number of positive COVID tests peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,396 cases, according to a Sept. 17 report from the Pima County Health Department. While a vocal minority continues to insist that masks do no good, the spread of the virus began to decline within weeks of Pima County’s mask mandate, as more people began wearing them in public, although the level of new cases has creeped back up in recent weeks with the return of UA students. For the week ending Aug. 29, 507 new cases were reported; for the week ending Sept. 5, a total of 667 cases were reported; for the week ending Sept. 12, 584 cases were reported. (Recent weeks are subject to revision.)
Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 55 in the week ending July 4 to 19 for the week ending Aug. 15, 13 in the week ending Aug. 22, 10 in the week ending Aug. 29 and three in the week ending Sept. 5. (As above, these numbers are subject to revision as recent deaths may not have been reported.)
Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 237 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals. For the week ending Aug. 29, 38 COVID patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals; in the week ending Sept. 5, 24 patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals; and in the week ending Sept. 12, 16 patients were admitted. (Numbers are subject to revision.)
UA keeps Phase 2 of reopening plan on pause, cracks down on partying students
Dozens of official actions have been taken against students who violated COVID-19 safety precautions and hosted weekend social gatherings off-campus.
The university and the Tucson Police Department administered 20 red tags, 19 citations and 24 Code of Conduct violations over the weekend for student parties, according to UA President Robert C. Robbins, who shared the numbers during a press conference yesterday.
Robbins and other university leaders point to this behavior as the reason COVID-19 is spreading among the community, not the essential in-person classes that are currently taking place.
Robbins described a party he witnessed last weekend that drew more than 300 college students. He said the gathering was dispersed and student sanctions resulted from the incident.
“This kind of behavior will negatively affect everyone,” he said.
Monday, September 21, 2020
Dozens of official actions have been taken against students who violated COVID-19 safety precautions and hosted social gatherings off-campus.
The university and the Tucson Police Department administered 20 red tags, 19 citations and 24 Code of Conduct violations over the weekend for student parties, according to UA President Robert C. Robbins, who shared the numbers during a press conference this morning.
Robbins and other university leaders point to this behavior as the reason COVID-19 is spreading among the community, not the essential in-person classes that are currently taking place.
Robbins described a party he witnessed last weekend that drew more than 300 college students. He said the gathering was dispersed and student sanctions resulted from the incident.
“This kind of behavior will negatively affect everyone,” he said.
Beginning in late August, the university has been tracking a gradual increase in COVID-19 prevalence among students. Robbins reported 79 new cases from 1,300 tests performed this past week, which puts them at a 6.1 percent positivity rate.
Over the previous 10 days, the university had a 11 percent positivity rate. When the state of Arizona went into lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a 10 percent positivity rate in testing.
While the drop to 6.1 percent is a noticeable improvement, Robbins said the university needs to stick with their heavy-handed mitigation strategy. The university will remain in an “only essential classes in person” phase for this upcoming week, which brings about 5,000 students to the campus for a traditional in-person learning experience.
Tags: University of Arizona , COVID-19 , Robbins , Carmona , Student Party , Citation , Image
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Today, the Pima County Health Department announced a partnership with the State and FEMA to offer "pop-up" testing at multiple locations around Tucson.
The tests are free, and while pre-registration is strongly encouraged, walk-ins can register on the spot. Preregistration is available at doineedacovid19test.com, and results are available in 3-5 days.
Below are locations and dates for pop-up testing:|
Location |
Date & Time |
|
United Community Health Center 1260 S. Campbell Rd. Green Valley. AZ 85614 |
9/17/2020 8 a.m.-12 p.m. |
|
Fourth Avenue 522 N. 4th Ave, Tucson AZ |
9/17/2020 7 p.m.- 10 p m. |
|
Dirtbags 1800 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85719 |
9/18/2020 7 p.m.-10 p.m. |
|
Green Valley Presbyterian Church 2800 S Camino Del Sol, Green Valley, AZ 85622 |
9/18/2020 8 a.m.-11 p.m. |
|
University Boulevard 825 E University Blvd #101, Tucson, AZ 85719 |
9/19/2020 7 p.m.-10 p.m. |
|
Green Valley Presbyterian Church 2800 S Camino Del Sol, Green Valley, AZ 85622 |
9/19/2020 8 a.m.-11 a.m. |
|
United Community Health Center 1260 S. Campbell Rd. Green Valley. AZ 85614 |
9/22/2020 8 a.m.-12 p.m. |
|
Fourth Avenue 522 N. 4th Ave, Tucson AZ |
9/24/2020 7 p.m.-10 p.m. |
|
University Boulevard 825 E University Blvd #101, Tucson, AZ 85719 |
9/24/2020 7. p.m.-10 p.m. |
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Tucson Electric Power will continue to suspend service disconnections and late fees for nonpayment till the end of 2020 in an effort to help those affected by the pandemic.
The disconnection moratorium, approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, was slated to end on Oct. 15.
“We know that many families and small businesses are facing financial hardships right now, so we want to be as flexible as we can to support them,” said TEP COO Susan Gray “We also want to help customers avoid falling too far behind on bills during this difficult period.”
TEP is creating payment plans for residential customers with overdue balances starting Oct. 15, to help avoid future service interruptions as the new year begins.
The electric company encourages customers with overdue balances to call 520-623-7711 for assistance with payment extensions or customer assistance programs.
Last March, TEP voluntarily suspended service disconnections to help alleviate financial hardships due to statewide closures in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Soon after, the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a moratorium on the disconnection of residential electric service from June 1 to Oct.15.
TEP serves more than 430,000 customers in Southern Arizona.
With 695 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 210,000 as of Wednesday, Sept. 16, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County had seen 22,887 of the state’s 209,907 confirmed cases.
A total of 5,371 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 602 deaths in Pima County, according to the Sept. 16 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases continues to decline from July peaks. ADHS reported that as of Sept. 15, 538 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. The number of hospitalized COVID patients peaked at 3,517 on July 13.
A total of 915 people visited emergency rooms on Sept. 15 with COVID symptoms, the highest that number has been since Sept. 2, when 924 people visited ERs. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.
A total of 135 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Sept. 15. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.
On a week-by-week basis in Pima County, the number of positive COVID tests peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,396 cases, according to a Sept. 11 report from the Pima County Health Department. While a vocal minority continues to insist that masks do no good, the spread of the virus began to decline within weeks of Pima County’s mask mandate, as more people began wearing them in public, although the level of new cases has essentially plateaued in recent weeks rather than continuing to drop. For the week ending Aug. 22, the number of new cases dropped to 528; for the week ending Aug. 29, 514 new cases were reported; and for the week ending Sept. 5, a total of 527 cases were reported. (Recent weeks are subject to revision.)
Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 55 in the week ending July 4 to 19 for the week ending Aug. 15, 13 for the week ending Aug. 22 and nine in the week ending Aug. 29. (As above, these numbers are subject to revision as recent deaths may not have been reported.)
Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 239 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals. For the week ending Aug. 29, 36 COVID patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals and in the week ending Sept. 5, 21 patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals. (Numbers are subject to revision.)
Get a Flu Shot
The Arizona Department of Health Services is implementing an aggressive plan of action during this flu season by distributing free flu shots vaccination to all Arizonans through doctor’s offices, pharmacies, local health departments and community healthcare centers statewide.
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
The storage shed of Putney’s Pitstop Sports Bar and Grill, located at 6090 N Oracle Rd, was set ablaze in a suspected arson fire in the early hours of Tuesday.
Owner Fernando Gomez said his security cameras show a male wearing a black hood and COVID mask pouring gasoline on the business’ storage-shed and then placing two Duralogs under the wooden fence surrounding the bar's patio. A quick flick of the wrist ignited a match and the structure went up in flames.
Gomez suspects the arson’s motive is due to their COVID mask requirement as directed by the state for reopening during the pandemic.
“With requiring people to wear masks, we’ve been having to turn away a lot of people. We always tell them we’re trying to stay open. If we don’t comply, we’ll be shut down,” Gomez said. “We even give out free masks if they don’t have one. But a lot of people start talking shit to us or our staff.”
Only the storage-shed and an exterior wall enclosing the establishment’s patio was scorched. While the official tally of damages has yet to be determined, Gomez estimates around $15,000-$20,000 in damages was caused by the blaze.
“We’ve only been open two weeks and now this shit happens,” Gomez said. “But the bar wasn’t hurt at all, thank God,” Gomez said. “The main thing that got destroyed was our tables and chairs we had pulled out of the place to follow occupancy guidelines.”
The fire started at 3:36 a.m., according to Putney’s exterior security cameras. Local firefighters were on the scene within four minutes, helping reduce the amount of damage to the bar itself. Police were called to the scene and found what they believe to be the suspect’s COVID mask which might be able to provide clues to who started the fire.
“(Police) can get DNA from that mask. If that person’s DNA is in the database, (police) are going to catch them,” Gomez said. “They did say they had a strong lead. I really hope they catch this asshole.”
Putney's will still open for business during clean-up efforts by staff and management.
The Amphitheater School District board will review a reopening proposal during their meeting at 6 p.m. today, Sept. 15. The proposal includes reopening school sites on Oct. 12 for a new hybrid in-person and online learning model for their K-12 students.
“The hybrid model consists of students being divided into cohorts with only certain cohorts attending school on certain days, with the other cohorts still receiving instructional services remotely at that same time, and then the cohorts reversing those modalities on alternating days,” the proposal states.
Amphi leaders had previously hoped that COVID-19 data trends would look good enough by this point to allow for a full reopening of campuses in October. But the Pima County Health Department has strongly advised against any school returning to fully traditional in-person classroom learning during the month of October.
In an email, the district stated that families and staff are concerned about the need for social distancing relative to class sizes. The administration believes their new hybrid approach will allow them to reduce in-person class sizes and safely offer an in-person learning option to families who want it.
“We recognize the need for a balance between getting students back in school and doing so safely,” the email states. “We believe our proposal does both.”
The hybrid learning model is required to follow the district’s mitigation plan, which lays out logistics of public health practices (such as handwashing and social distancing) that are intended to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in school settings.
For more information on the newest proposal, visit https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Organization/2065.
With 484 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases surpassed 209,000 as of Tuesday, Sept. 15, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County had seen 22,643 of the state’s 209,209 confirmed cases.
A total of 5,344 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 601 deaths in Pima County, according to the Sept. 15 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases continues to decline from July peaks, but took a big jump yesterday. ADHS reported that as of Sept. 14, 550 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, an increase of 61 people from yesterday’s count of 489. The number of hospitalized COVID patients peaked at 3,517 on July 13.
A total of 811 people visited emergency rooms on Sept. 14 with COVID symptoms, the lowest that number has been since June 4, when 725 people visited emergency rooms with symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7.
A total of 138 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Sept. 14. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13.
On a week-by-week basis in Pima County, the number of positive COVID tests peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,396 cases, according to a Sept. 11 report from the Pima County Health Department. While a vocal minority continues to insist that masks do no good, the spread of the virus began to decline within weeks of Pima County’s mask mandate, as more people began wearing them in public, although the level of new cases has essentially plateaued in recent weeks rather than continuing to drop. For the week ending Aug. 22, the number of new cases dropped to 528; for the week ending Aug. 29, 514 new cases were reported; and for the week ending Sept. 5, a total of 527 cases were reported. (Recent weeks are subject to revision.)
Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 55 in the week ending July 4 to 19 for the week ending Aug. 15, 13 for the week ending Aug. 22 and nine in the week ending Aug. 29. (As above, these numbers are subject to revision as recent deaths may not have been reported.)
Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 239 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals. For the week ending Aug. 29, 36 COVID patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals and in the week ending Sept. 5, 21 patients were admitted to Pima County hospitals. (Numbers are subject to revision.)
UA students asked to quarantine in their homes for two weeks
University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins and Pima County Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen yesterday announced they are recommending a 14-day quarantine for students living on and off campus within a geographical boundary they have identified as showing high transmission of the novel coronavirus.
Robbins said this is a “last ditch” effort to get students to follow public health directives before they have to take more drastic measures. Robbins gave off a frustrated tone at the press conference, saying the university is dealing with a “blatant disregard for public health measures.”
“I’m short of saying I’m mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore,” Robbins said. “This is part of being a good member of society, to take into account the health of others, not just your individual health and your individual desire to go out and party.”
Monday, September 14, 2020
University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins and Pima County Public Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen today announced they are recommending a 14-day quarantine for students living on and off campus within a geographical boundary they have identified as showing high transmission of the novel coronavirus.
Robbins said this is a “last ditch” effort to get students to follow public health directives before they have to take more drastic measures. Robbins gave off a frustrated tone at the press conference, saying the university is dealing with a “blatant disregard for public health measures.”
“I’m short of saying I’m mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore,” Robbins said. “This is part of being a good member of society, to take into account the health of others, not just your individual health and your individual desire to go out and party.”
High-density apartments near campus are included in the recommendation, with specific boundaries of the quarantine are expected to be released later today. Robbins said there is COVID-19 transmission happening around campus because of the “selfish behavior of a few individuals.”
Cullen said they aren’t seeing transmission as a result of classes, labs or on-campus activity, but more so off-campus social activities and parties.
The quarantine allows exceptions for students enrolled in essential in-person classes such as science labs and performance and fine arts classes. Students in the quarantine boundary are also allowed to go on essential shopping trips, appointments and work if necessary.
“There are a clear subset of individuals, primarily students, who are not following the rules,” Robbins said during a press conference. “Today, we’re going to ratchet up the warnings, the encouragement to please follow the rules.”
Cullen said that by establishing a recommended two week quarantine, they will have the potential to ensure that the increased virus transmission will go back down.
Robbins said enforcement of the recommended quarantine will be difficult, but the university has established a support system to assist students during this time and he hopes they will follow this recommendation before the condition of COVID-19 spread at UA worsens.
He said the university administration anticipated this problem once students came to campus at the beginning of the semester. He hoped the university wouldn't have to institute “more draconian measures, but we're to that point.”
Robbins said the university will have to move toward an all-digital learning model if they cannot get the situation under control.
“This is it, this is your last chance,” he said.
Cullen said the county is actively looking at other potential options besides an optional quarantine that they could legally pursue if the spread of COVID-19 around the university continues.
Tags: University of Arizona , Quarantine , Robert Robbins , Theresa Cullen , COVID-19 , Students , Image
