Thursday, November 19, 2020
WASHINGTON – A sometimes emotional Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, gave her farewell address on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying that “serving and fighting for Arizona as a U.S. senator has been the opportunity of a lifetime.”
McSally also wished “all the best” to Sen.-elect Mark Kelly, the Democrat who unseated her in this month’s elections and could replace her in less than two weeks when the election results are due to be certified.
“It’s been a true honor Arizona. We are an extraordinary state with extraordinary people,” said McSally, whose voice caught more than once and who had to pause and collect herself before settling into her roughly 14-minute speech.
Between thanking her staff, and quoting the Bible, McSally highlighted what she called her bipartisan record in Congress and expressed gratitude for the “life-changing opportunities here” to work for “causes greater than one’s self.”
McSally, a former Air Force fighter pilot who served two terms representing the Tucson area in the House, ran in 2018 for an open Senate seat but lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. Gov. Doug Ducey appointed her shortly thereafter to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
In the first media conference from the governor’s office in two weeks, Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ provided a COVID-19 update today as the pervasiveness of the virus grows daily.
Christ said throughout the state there’s been a “concerning increase” in coronavirus cases, percent positivity and COVID-19 patients in ICU and inpatient hospital beds.
To date, ADHS has reported 283,102 coronavirus cases. 6,365 Arizonans have died from the virus. Christ said during the week of Nov. 8, all but two counties had a coronavirus percent positivity above 10%, which indicates substantial spread of the virus.
This week, those numbers are expected to trend even higher.
According to Christ, each of Arizona’s 15 counties has a COVID-19 case rate above 100 per 100,000 people, which also indicates substantial spread of the virus.
COVID-19-like illnesses are also increasing visits to emergency rooms and hospitals, Christ said.
The public health director emplored mask wearing for all Arizonans “in every setting.”
Although he was not wearing a mask at the press conference today, Ducey reiterated the importance of mask-wearing, saying “Masks work, please wear them.”
However, he did not go as far as issuing a statewide mask mandate, reasoning “what I want to avoid is some of the division and politics that have happened around this issue.”
In an effort to get more pets homes for the holidays, the first 48 pet adoption fees will be covered at Pima Animal Care Center on Saturday, Nov. 21 and Sunday, Nov. 22.
The adoption fees are covered by Central Pet animal care and Boss Dog pet food. All adopted dogs will go home with Boss Dog yogurt samples.
Pima Animal Care Center is still operating by appointment only and anyone interested in adopting a pet will need to make an appointment by visiting pima.gov/adopt.
Pima Animal Care Center is located at 4000 N. Silverbell Road.
As Arizona continues on track for its worst month of COVID spread, Banner Health reinstated its no-visitor policy at all Banner – University Medicine locations in Tucson, effective 6 p.m. today. According to Banner, this visitor ban to reduce COVID spread includes outpatient and ambulatory locations, such as clinics, urgent care locations, imaging centers, surgery centers and occupational health services locations.
There are four exceptions to the visitor restrictions:
- Pediatric patients (under the age of 18) may have one guardian or support individual with them.
- Laboring mothers may have one support person with them.
- Persons with disabilities who, due to the specifics of the disability, require assistance from someone in order to effectively participate in the healthcare process will be allowed to designate a support person to accompany them while in any Banner facility.
- End of life visitations will be accommodated.
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry noted that the county had seen 4,620 cases in the first 17 days of November.
“For the first 17 days in July, the worst month of COVID-19 case increases to date, there were 5,057 cases,” Huckelberry said in a Nov. 17 memo. “Therefore, we are on pace to exceed the total number of monthly COVID-19 infections in our previous worst month, July.”
Long before Republican senators began publicly denouncing how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger handled the voting there, he withstood pressure from the campaign of Donald Trump to endorse the president for reelection.
Raffensperger, a Republican, declined an offer in January to serve as an honorary co-chair of the Trump campaign in Georgia, according to emails reviewed by ProPublica. He later rejected GOP requests to support Trump publicly, he and his staff said in interviews. Raffensperger said he believed that, because he was overseeing the election, it would be a conflict of interest for him to take sides. Around the country, most secretaries of state remain officially neutral in elections.
The attacks on his job performance are “clear retaliation,” Raffensperger said. “They thought Georgia was a layup shot Republican win. It is not the job of the secretary of state’s office to deliver a win — it is the sole responsibility of the Georgia Republican Party to get out the vote and get its voters to the polls. That is not the job of the secretary of state’s office.”
Leading the push for Raffensperger’s endorsement was Billy Kirkland, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign who was a key manager of its Georgia operations. Kirkland burst uninvited into a meeting in Raffensperger’s office in the late spring that was supposed to be about election procedures and demanded that the secretary of state endorse Trump, according to Raffensperger and two of his staffers.
When reached by phone, Kirkland directed the request for comment to the Trump campaign, which did not respond. The White House and the Georgia Republican Party also did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Joe Biden has been projected as the winner of the presidential election in Georgia by a margin of roughly 14,000 votes. The state is now conducting a hand recount at the Trump campaign’s request. Raffensperger’s office has said that the recount won’t swing enough votes to tip the state into Trump’s column.
As the Georgia results have become increasingly clear, Republicans have unleashed intense criticism on the secretary of state’s office, accusing it without evidence of mismanaging the election and allowing Biden to carry the state by fraudulent means. Georgia’s U.S. senators, Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both of whom failed to win majorities for reelection on Nov. 3 and face Democratic opponents in January runoffs, called for Raffensperger’s resignation. All of the Republicans representing Georgia in Congress also signed a letter sent to Raffensperger’s office from the personal email account of the chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, criticizing the office for a series of supposed irregularities.
As coronavirus cases continue to rise county and statewide, experts are raising alarms about a COVID-19 surge worse than Arizona experienced this summer.
Pima County is on track to exceed the number of COVID-19 cases it had in July, according to a Nov. 17 memorandum from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.
The first 17 days of November saw 4,620 coronavirus cases, whereas the first 17 days of July, “the worst month of COVID-19 case increases to date,” had 5,057 cases, according to the memo.
The week of Nov. 8-14, 1,165 more coronavirus cases were reported than the week prior.
“The continued growth of COVID-19 cases in Pima County during the last 4 weeks has been geographically diffused reflecting a substantial degree of community spread in Pima County,” Huckelberry said in the memorandum.
Federal prison is a “hot spot” for COVID cases
However, the memo says there are specific "hot spots" contributing to the surge in cases, including a case outbreak at the federal prison at 8901 S. Wilmot Road. Nearly 500 infections were found in a facility with 1,600 detainees and 600 employees.
“The initial cases were identified quickly, and the institution implemented an aggressive program of inmate testing, case identification, and isolation and quarantine to mitigate the risk of spread,” Huckelberry said in the memo.
On-site medical services for inmates are “limited to outpatient acute care” from a team of four nurse practitioners or mid-level providers, 12 supporting nursing and paramedics and a medical director from inside the facility, according to the memo.
About 24 detainees had to leave the prison facility for hospital care, and the memo says “even fewer required inpatient care at local hospitals, principally TMC.”
“These numbers are modest however given the current staffing issues that are being experienced throughout Pima County and the state, we remain very concerned about the additional strain this may place on local hospital resources,” Huckelberry said in the memo. “TMC is working with the federal facility to improve the process by facilitating direct admission of patients where appropriate.”
According to the memo, 160 staff members have been tested for COVID-19, but it did not reveal how many tested positive. However, Huckelberry says in the memo, “there appears to be a large amount of unmet testing need in this population of essential workers.”
The county administrator said plans are in place to create an employee roster to keep track of COVID-19 infections for contact-tracing efforts and that all staff should be tested.
The memo says although comprehensive mitigation tactics are in place at the prison, “significant lapses in basic mask and PPE use have been noted among correctional staff participating in transport and hospital settings.”
“These anecdotal observations...lead us to believe that there is still significant staff education and reinforcement must continue at the facility for the protection of the workforce and the detainees,” Huckleberry said in the memo. “In general, our interactions with the leadership at the federal prison have been collaborative and productive.”
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise across Pima County, the county administrator emphasized the importance of social distancing, wearing masks and frequent sanitization as the holiday season approaches.
Huckleberry writes in the memo, “While there may be prevention fatigue from these practices, they are essential to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and need to be practiced for at least another 6 months while the public health agency is able to obtain and vaccinate a significant portion of the regional population. “
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With more than 3,200 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases soared past 283,000 as of Wednesday, Nov. 18, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 378 new cases today, has seen 33,822 of the state’s 283,102 confirmed cases.
With 53 new deaths reported today, a total of 6,365 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 674 deaths in Pima County, according to the Nov. 18 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide continues to climb upward as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly. ADHS reported that as of Nov. 17, 1,700 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, the highest that number has been since Aug. 6. That number peaked with 3,517 hospitalized COVID patients on July 13; it hit a subsequent low of 468 on Sept. 27.
A total of 1,288 people visited emergency rooms on Nov. 17 with COVID symptoms, the highest that number has been since July 29. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A total of 396 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Nov. 17, the highest that number has been since Aug. 18. The number of COVID patients in ICUs peaked at 970 on July 13 and hit a subsequent low of 114 on Sept. 22.
On a week-by-week basis in Pima County, the number of positive COVID tests peaked the week ending July 4 with 2,452 cases, according to an Nov. 12 report from the Pima County Health Department. (Numbers in this report are subject to revision.)
Pima County is seeing a steady rise in cases in recent weeks. For the week ending Oct. 17, 547 cases were reported; for the week ending Oct. 24, 914 cases were reported; for the week ending Oct. 31, 1,304 cases were reported; and for the week ending Nov. 7, 1,948 cases were reported.
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry noted that the county had seen 4,620 cases in the first 17 days in November.
“For the first 17 days in July, the worst month of COVID-19 case increases to date, there were 5,057 cases,” Huckelberry said in a Nov. 17 memo. “Therefore, we are on pace to exceed the total number of monthly COVID-19 infections in our previous worst month, July.”
PHOENIX – Native American leaders are keeping close watch on the Supreme Court battle over whether to repeal all or parts of the Affordable Care Act, a move many say could devastate health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
“In our vulnerable populations, particularly in the time of COVID-19 and its disproportionate impact on Native people, this is not where we need to be spending our energy,” said Stacy Bohlen, chief executive officer of the National Indian Health Board.
The Affordable Care Act, signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, expanded the number of Americans covered by private or public health insurance.
But the law, often referred to as Obamacare, also includes a number of provisions specific to Indian Country, including permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which provides ongoing funding for Native health programs, primarily through the Indian Health Service.
It also expanded tribes’ authority to run their own health care programs, provided for expansion of the IHS and community health care workforce, and included behavioral health and youth suicide prevention programs.
“People talk about the Affordable Care Act like it’s all one thing,” said Sarah Somers, an attorney with the National Health Law Program who specializes in litigation to help underserved communities access good health care. “But really, there’s almost like five or six different parts of it, and if you repeal it, then all of the codified statutes go away.
