Friday, March 5, 2021
With 2,276 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 823,000 as of Friday, March 5, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 215 new cases today, has seen 110,287 of the state’s 823,384 confirmed cases.
With 84 new deaths reported today, a total of 16,269 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,254 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 5 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has continued to decline, with 1,043 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of March 4. That’s roughly 21% 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 1,116 people visited emergency rooms on March 4 with COVID symptoms. That number is roughly 48% 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.
PHOENIX – After leaving the Army two decades ago, Miachelle DePiano faced new challenges on the civilian battlefield: a hyper-competitive job market.
“I couldn’t show anybody a portfolio because everything I had written was classified, and I didn’t have a degree to back up my claim,” said DePiano, who served as an intelligence officer in Germany and Croatia.
Other Arizona veterans and advocates said DePiano’s job-hunting experience is all too common, with veterans unsure of themselves and too often overlooked by potential employers. But the job-hunt can be more complex.
In 2019, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed the unemployment rate was lower for veterans than for nonveterans. But the financial outlook for vets has drastically changed since then, with unemployment jumping to 5.5% in January 2021, from 3.5% in January 2020.
Another report showed high-ranking veterans more likely to get better pay than noncommissioned veterans and younger veterans.
And, according to data and interviews, women and minority veterans often have a tougher time getting a job.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
PHOENIX – Picture a baseball game at Chase Field. Or a basketball game at Suns Arena. As more fans begin returning to sporting events after the COVID-19 pandemic, they are welcomed by the benefits of live competition, from ballpark hot dogs to the energy of a packed stadium.
In the near future, the Arizona sports fan’s experience could include the ability to place bets inside sports venues while the action unfolds. For others, daily online fantasy sports platforms like Draft Kings and FanDuel might soon be operating legally in the state.
Arizona moved several steps closer to making those opportunities a reality with sports-gambling legislation now moving through both the House and the Senate as two separate bills, each with similar strings attached.
The new legislation would overcome the barriers set by the Arizona Tribal-State Gaming Compacts in 2002. That agreement set the rules for tribes to operate casinos but with no opportunities for sports betting, on or off of tribal land.
Now, HB 2772 and SB 1797 would allow both event wagering and online sports betting, with up to 10 tribes and 10 professional teams licensed to provide online betting platforms. There are 16 tribes in Arizona operating casinos. And there are eight professional teams, including NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA franchises.
If passed, people would be able to place bets at Chase Field during a Diamondbacks game, or at Gila River Arena with the Coyotes skating. Bettors could also place wagers at sports books at select Indian casinos or legally participate in popular daily fantasy sports games.
With 1,154 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 821,000 as of Thursday, March 4, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 131 new cases today, has seen 110,072 of the state’s 821,108 confirmed cases.
With 96 new deaths reported today, a total of 16,185 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,247 deaths in Pima County, according to the March 4 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has continued to decline, with 1,072 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of March 3. That’s roughly 21% 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 1,154 people visited emergency rooms on March 3 with COVID symptoms. That number has been ticking upwards slightly this week but is just about 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.
PHOENIX – More than 10.3 million acres of land were scorched by wildfires nationwide in 2020. Firefighters battling the harrowing flames often work shifts that exceed 24 hours, and they stay in close quarters in remote locations for weeks at a time, offering a prime opportunity for COVID-19 to spread.
In addition, firefighters in urban areas as well as in wildlands routinely are exposed to smoke, carbon monoxide, toxins from structure fires and other hazards to lung health.
Although there isn’t much data to indicate whether smoke inhalation affects the infection rate or severity of COVID-19 in firefighters, some experts are voicing concerns about lessened lung capacity upon recovery and other health issues.
“There’s definitely the question of whether or not those firefighters who are severely impacted will have trouble regaining lung capacity,” said Luke Montrose, an environmental toxicologist at Boise State University. “They’re already at risk for diseases like camp crud and lung cancer.”
Montrose researches how wood smoke and other air pollution affect the way human health and diseases work – and he’s concerned firefighters may be facing more severe health outcomes because of COVID-19, which easily spreads in close quarters.
As of Feb. 16, trade news site FireRescue1 has tracked COVID-19 related deaths of 66 firefighters across the country, from California to New Jersey. There haven’t been any studies of the impacts of COVID-19 on firefighters, which Montrose said more are needed.
Many firefighters had pandemic-related training and are well-versed in using masks and protective equipment.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero is calling for "an immediate pause" to Reid Park Zoo's planned expansion that would take over the South Pond and Barnum Hill area.
The controversial zoo expansion was to begin this month. But Romero said the community outcry after the plans were unveiled has led her to believe more time is needed to reach a compromise.
"It has become clear to me that resolution to this issue is not on the horizon," Romero said in a release Wednesday.
When the zoo announced that its plans would include taking over the pond, opposition was fierce. Many residents were upset that the pond, trees and open area just west of the zoo would be gone.
But the plan has supporters as well. Romero said she "also heard from community members, who value the educational and recreational opportunities that our Zoo provides to our community."
Gov. Doug Ducey issued an Executive Order on Wednesday requiring schools to return to in-person, teacher-led instruction by March 15, or after Spring Break. This comes as 12 of Arizona’s 15 counties, including Pima, are "in phases where all schools are safe to open." This includes district and charter schools. The majority of Arizona counties are still in the "substantial" category of COVID-19 spread.
“Arizona’s students need to be back in the classroom," Ducey said. "More than half of Arizona’s schools are open and offering in-person options. More schools need to follow their lead, and pave the way for equitable education options for every Arizona student."
However, an individual district may close if the local health department advises closure due to "a significant outbreak" of the COVID-19 virus that poses a risk to the students or staff, and is approved for closure by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
An exception is made for middle and high schools located in the counties with “high” transmission of COVID-19: Coconino, Yavapai and Pinal.
The Arizona Department of Health Services updated their COVID-19 School Benchmarks following the executive order on Wednesday.
Following CDC recommendations, schools should keep track of two metrics to track community transmission: cases per 100,000 and the percentage of positive nucleic acid amplification tests all in the last week. Both will determine whether a school has low, moderate, substantial, or high transmission. ADHS recommends elementary schools remain in hybrid learning if in the moderate to high range, while middle schools and high schools should offer virtual learning if high transmission, unless they are already offering in-person instruction and have few cases or have implemented mitigation strategies to keep cases down. Once schools reach moderate transmission, they recommend all K-12 schools open for full in-person instruction.
Several school districts in Pima County have already reopened schools or plan to reopen them before or after Spring Break. However, most districts offer several different methods of instruction, not a full-five days of in-person learning.
For example, as of March 1, Sunnyside Unified School District has almost half of their students attending school as part of their in-person hybrid program. These students are split into two groups, each attending school two days per week and one day remote. Other districts with varying hybrid programs are Amphitheater and Catalina Foothills.
School districts surveyed teachers, staff, parents and students in order to provide a method of instruction that would suit them. Parents with children attending Tucson Unified School District have until March 7 to decide the method of instruction for their child. According to a TUSD spokesperson, they are still reviewing Governor Ducey’s Executive Order.
PHOENIX – High school athletes will not be required to wear masks during spring sports competition and neither will winter sports athletes during playoffs, the Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Board voted Tuesday
The decision comes after the Sports Medicine Advisory committee recommended removing the mask mandate for outdoor spring sports.
The only exception is for boys volleyball. It was recommended they should continue wearing masks for play.
The committee also recommended finishing the winter regular season with masks. The removal of the mask mandate only applies to those in the field of competition, including officials. All coaches, players on the bench and spectators will continue to be required to wear masks.
The AIA has had about 160 positive COVID cases out of roughly 10 to 12,000 athletes participating in winter sports, AIA Executive Director David Hines said.
“We also have information that the medical professionals get in regard to hospital capacity, hospital cases, hospital COVID cases, in ICU, in hospitals, etc.,” Hines said. “They absolutely admit the numbers are coming down, getting much better.”
