Thursday, July 29, 2021
WINDOW ROCK – Navajo Chief of Police Phillip Francisco sits ramrod straight at his desk, surrounded by manila folders brimming with paperwork and a Darth Vader figurine that wields a pen as a lightsaber.
The chief, an Army veteran hired in 2016 after serving in several law enforcement departments in New Mexico, took charge after nearly eight years of rotating acting chiefs. He came from Farmington, New Mexico, to serve and protect the largest Native American tribe in the U.S. Francisco, 45, whose father is Navajo, grew up near the reservation.
A year before Francisco was sworn in, Officer Alex Yazzie was shot and killed while answering a domestic violence call. Francisco – who had been working closely with the Navajo Police Department while serving at nearby agencies – felt called to step in.
“Seeing the struggles that the Navajo Nation Police Department went through, I thought, ‘Maybe they need a leader.' "
The increased demands of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated issues in the department, Francisco said: chronic understaffing, dispatch systems that trail technology by 50 years and archaic facilities that include 71-year-old administrative buildings and a converted post office.
The 200-member department polices a rural area larger than West Virginia, he said, with dirt roads and houses so remote they don’t have addresses and can be out of range of police radios. During the pandemic, officers often worked 16- to 24-hour shifts to fill in for sick or quarantined colleagues.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Pima County is seeing an increase in school outbreaks as students return to the classroom, with health officials warning the spread of COVID in schools could have a significant impact on the community at large.
Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen told the press this morning that as of today, there have been eight outbreaks in schools and 56 school cases reported in the last seven days since July 19, but there were no outbreaks in the summer. She said they have closed one school classroom in the last five days and expects another 10 cases will be reported today.
The cases are primarily from a school district that is already back in session and some of the outbreaks are in schools and others are from school-related activities, like football, cheerleading or freshman orientations, Cullen said.
“We are now seeing this increase as students go back to school,” said Cullen. “We anticipate that approximately 5% to 10% of the cases we are seeing right now will be due to school as opposed to a maximum of 4% last year.”
Although several studies conducted early during the COVID-19 pandemic suggested children have lower incidence rates than adults, this may be partly due to children having fewer opportunities for exposure and a lower probability of being tested, CDC officials warned in an updated July 9 brief. They noted that studies that systematically tested children and adolescents, irrespective of symptoms, for COVID-19 infection or prior infection found “their rates of infection can be comparable, and in some settings higher, than in adults.”
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Monday, July 26, 2021
Friday, July 23, 2021
PHOENIX – Although the percentage of those unwilling to take a COVID-19 vaccine has remained unchanged since May, Arizonans are showing less concern about the risks, according to a new survey by OH Predictive Insights.
The online opt-in panel survey of 1,000 adults, conducted from July 6-11, found that 42% of Arizonans were “slightly or not at all concerned” about the deadly disease, whereas 35% of Arizonans were “extremely or moderately concerned.”
“The data showed no statistically meaningful change from May in the number of Arizonans unwilling to take the COVID-19 vaccine (21%), while those who reported already taking the vaccine rose by 8%,” according to the survey. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
The decrease in “pandemic panic” comes at a time when the Arizona Department of Health Services’ daily curve showed an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the past week. Earlier this month, the daily number of new cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time since February. Arizona has recorded more than 18,100 deaths since January 2020.
Health experts say immunization is the best way to fight the Delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, which quickly became the dominant strain in Arizona.
“By and large, it is a surge among the unvaccinated,” said Dr. Joshua LaBaer, executive director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, in a media briefing Wednesday. “The important take-home message is that the vaccines do work against this Delta variant.”
According to the survey, vaccine willingness rates varied among Arizonans of different racial groups, education levels and ages.
“College-educated white respondents reported an 81% vaccination rate while 57% of non-college-educated white respondents said they had been vaccinated,” the survey said. “However, 58% of college-educated Hispanic/Latinos say they have vaccinated, and a statistically equivalent 56% of non-college-educated Hispanic/Latinos are vaccinated as well.”
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Friday, July 16, 2021
A free COVID-19 clinic will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday in conjunction with the Reid Park Zoo's Summer Safari Nights.
The first 100 people who get their first COVID-19 shot will receive a free daytime admission ticket to come back and visit the Zoo, 3400 E. Zoo Court, according to a Reid Park news release.
No appointments or identification are required for this mobile event. Registration is done on-site.
All three vaccine types will be available – Pfizer, Moderna, and the one-dose Johnson & Johnson. Only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for 12- to 17-year-olds.
Ward 6 Tucson city council member Steve Kozachik, who helped organize the vaccine clinic, will perform folk and rock tunes. Tucson Roadrunners mascot Dusty will be on hand from 6 to 7 p.m. There will also be games and activities from Tucson Parks and Recreation’s Ready, Set, Rec! as well as animal encounters and presentations throughout the evening.
For a full list of vaccination sites, visit pima.gov/covid19vaccine.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Tucson Unified School District will be offering a remote-only learning option for the coming school year.
On August 5, students who would prefer to learn online will be able to attend Tucson Unified Virtual Academy K-12. Students would follow a regular class schedule, like in-person instruction, and the district would provide the technology devices and software. If students feel they are not fit for online learning, they do still have the option to return to in-person learning. For the coming school year, students can switch back to in-person learning and return to the school they were enrolled in at the 1st quarter Progress report date (September 1-3, 2021), or at the end of each quarter.
While students would be attending class remotely during the week, they can still participate in after-school programs in-person, such as sports or other activities.
In a letter to parents and the TUSD community on Wednesday, Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo recognized that families would be concerned about returning to in-person learning since the district would no longer be able to require masks in schools after Gov. Doug Ducey signed the Arizona Budget Bill on July 30.
He said the governing board would discuss safety recommendations for school re-entry at the upcoming meeting on July 20. While the district can longer mandate masks, he wrote they still “highly recommend a mask be worn by anyone who is not vaccinated.”
To learn more about the Tucson Unified Virtual Academy email [email protected] or call 520-225-6330.
