Monday, November 9, 2020
With close to 5,000 new cases reported since Friday, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases was nearing 260,000 as of Monday, Nov. 9, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County had seen 30,493 of the state’s 259,699 confirmed cases.
A total of 6,164 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 659 deaths in Pima County, according to the Nov. 9 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. 8, 1,232 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state, the highest that number has been since Aug. 14. 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 992 people visited emergency rooms on Nov. 8 with COVID symptoms. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
A total of 292 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Nov. 8, the highest that number has been since Aug. 26. 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. 4 report from the Pima County Health Department.
Pima County is seeing a steady rise in cases in recent weeks. For the week ending Oct. 10, 465 cases were reported; for the week ending Oct. 17, 543 cases were reported; for the week ending Oct. 24, 911 cases were reported; and for the week ending Oct. 31, 1,166 cases were reported.
Deaths in Pima County are down from a peak of 54 in the week ending July 4 to four in the week ending Oct. 3 (WEEK 40), two in the week ending Oct 10, one in week ending Oct. 17, two in the week ending Oct. 24 and one in the week ending Oct. 31.
Hospitalization peaked the week ending July 18 with 221 COVID patients admitted to Pima County hospitals, but it has been on the rise in recent weeks. In the week ending Oct. 3, 20 patients were admitted; in the week ending Oct. 10, 27 people were admitted; in the week ending Oct. 17, 37 people were admitted; in the week ending Oct. 24, 34 people were admitted; and in the week ending Oct. 31, 41 people were admitted. (Recent weeks are subject to revision.)
TUSD cancels plans to return to classroom
With the recent rise of cases, Tucson Unified School District Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo informed parents on Friday that Tucson’s largest school district would not be resuming in-classroom instruction this week as previously planned.
“In my briefings this week with the Pima County Health Department leadership team, I was informed that our county will be in a state of widespread community transmission of COVID-19 at the time of our planned opening,” Trujillo wrote. “Out of an abundance of caution, our leadership team has made a commitment to only initiate ‘hybrid’ instruction when Pima County is in a state of moderate transmission or better.”
TUSD now tentatively plans to launch hybrid in-classroom instruction after winter break in January 2021.
Other local school districts such as Amphi, Marana, Catalina Foothills and Sunnyside have had “hybrid” in-class instruction programs running since sometime in October.
Get tested: Pima County offers free COVID testing, UA offering antibody testing
The Pima County Health Department has four free testing centers around town with easy-to-schedule appointments—often with same-day availability—with results in 24 to 72 hours.
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.
Schedule an appointment 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.
As Americans watch election results continue to trickle in, voters have taken to social media to share their confusion and anxiety, and have often been met with lies and misinformation.
The heightened spread of disinformation over social media can have negative consequences on America’s democracy, according to Scott Ruston, a research scientist with Arizona State University’s Knowledge Enterprise.
“In many ways, the fundamental underpinnings of democratic society are at risk because they depend so much on willing, informed citizen participation and expression of political will,” Ruston said in a Q&A from ASU. “If the basis of those decisions made by the citizens is corrupted by disinformation, then that’s a hijacking of domestic society.”
Disinformation is when a person intentionally spreads information they know is false or misleading.
Between March and September, more than 120,000 pieces of content were removed from Facebook and Instagram for violating voter interference policies, and an additional 150 million pieces of content on Facebook were labeled as false information, according to Guy Rosen, VP of Integrity for the social platforms, in an explanation piece for Facebook.
Here is some of the recent misinformation that has been circulating on social media.
Saturday, November 7, 2020
Friday, November 6, 2020
Because of increased positivity rates, TUSD will delay in-person instruction until January 4th. Stay safe, mask-up!
Posted by Adelita S. Grijalva on Friday, November 6, 2020
The board had voted 3-2 to have students return to schools for in-classroom instruction late last month.
UPDATED: Here's the letter to parents from TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo:
More details to come.11/6/20
Greetings Tucson Unified Family,
As your Superintendent there is no responsibility I take more seriously and no priority more important than ensuring the health, safety, and security of our students and employees. This commitment is the core value inherent in any decision I make. Throughout this pandemic your Governing Board and I have committed to honoring the expertise of the Pima County Health Department by utilizing their data to guide our decision making regarding the re-opening of our schools, programs, and extra-curricular activities. It is in this spirit that I have made the difficult decision to not open the Tucson Unified School District for Hybrid Learning starting Thursday November 12th. In my briefings this week with the Pima County Health Department leadership team, I was informed that our county will be in a state of widespread community transmission of COVID-19 at the time of our planned opening. I encourage you to view her 11/4/20 community update message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=1aaDMT9ECWM Out of an abundance of caution, our leadership team has made a commitment to only initiate “hybrid” instruction when Pima County is in a state of moderate transmission or better. Please note that our remote instructional model will remain unchanged. Your child or children should continue to log on to their regularly scheduled remote classes at their regularly scheduled times. School bell schedules for remote instruction will remain the same.
We will continue to have On Campus Learning Spaces open for at-risks students, as well as any families that would like their children to be on campus. Our On-Campus Learning Spaces will continue to feature access to remote instruction and basic campus services for students that attend.
If you are a family that chose Hybrid Learning, your student will be prioritized when Hybrid Learning begins in the Spring.
I thank you for your continued patience, support, and trust in the Tucson Unified School District and look forward to continuing to provide you with updates as soon as information becomes available. Be safe and be healthy.
Pima County counted another 7,325 votes today.
The county now estimates that only a few hundred early ballots remain to be tallied.
In addition, roughly 18,000 provisional ballots are in the process of being verified, according to a county press release. County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez says the first batch of provisional ballots will be sent to the Election Department for counting on Monday.
Following today's tally, here's where things stand in Pima County:
• After trailing on Election Night, Republican Treasurer Beth Ford has now widened her lead over Democrat Brian Bickel to 3,146 votes.
• In a rematch of the 2016 race, Democratic challenger Chris Nanos was still leading Republican Sheriff Mark Napier, the candidate he lost to four years ago, but Napier had narrowed Nanos' lead by 902 votes and now trailed by 5,379 votes.
• Democrat Rex Scott has a thinning lead over Republican Steve Spain in the race for the District 1 seat on the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Scott, a former school administrator, was ahead of Spain by just 1,854 votes after today's tally. He lead this morning by more than 2,400 votes this morning in the contest for the seat now held by retiring Supervisor Ally Miller.
If Scott’s lead holds up, it would be the first time a Democrat has held the District 1 seat in decades.
It would also mean four Democrats will be on the Pima County Board of Supervisors next year.
• In District 2, Democrat Matt Heinz, who defeated longtime Supervisor Ramon Valadez in the August primary, easily dispatched Republican Anthony Sizer, winning 68 percent of the vote.
• In District 3, Democrat Sharon Bronson won a seventh term on the board after she captured 58 percent of the vote against GOP challenger Gabby Saucedo Mercer.
• In District 4, incumbent GOP Supervisor Steve Christy will be the sole Republican on the Board of Supervisors after he won 54 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Steve Diamond.
• In District 5, in the race for the open seat previously held by the late Supervisor Richard Elias, Democrat Adelita Grijalva defeated Republican Fernando Gonzales with 74 percent of the vote.
• In the race for County Recorder, Democrat Gabriella Cázares-Kelly had 60 percent of the vote against Republican Benny White.
• Democrat Suzanne Droubie had won 58 percent of the vote against Republican Jo Ann Sabbagh in the race for County Assessor.
• After winning a three-way primary race in August, Democrat Laura Conover was unopposed in the contest to replace Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, who is stepping down after six terms. County School Superintendent Dustin Williams was also unopposed in his bid for a second term.
PHOENIX – A slew of high-profile races and Arizona’s new status as a battleground state made Phoenix the top market in the country for television political advertising during this election season, according to a recent report.
Those factors, along with the fact that the Phoenix market dominates Arizona as few other large cities do in their states, combined to push Phoenix ahead of cities, such as Pittsburgh, Orlando and Detroit, in other battleground states.
Political campaigns spent $270.1 million on television ads in the Phoenix market, which included $101.9 million on the presidential race alone, according to data from Advertising Analytics.
“The most important part of Arizona, from an electoral perspective, Maricopa County, is all within the Phoenix DMA (Designated Market Area),” said Ben Taber, an account manager with Advertising Analytics. “So you can really put all of your money into this one market instead of diluting it across six or seven markets like some of these other big states.”
The data shows that more than $332 million was spent on all races, on all platforms, in all markets in Arizona so far this year.
Last night, Pima County counted another 28,720 votes.
The county now estimates that that 8,000 early ballots have been verified but remain to be tallied, with an expectation that they will be counted today. In addition, roughly 700 early ballots remain to be verified and another 18,000 provisional ballots remain to be verified, according to a county press release.
Following last night's tally, where things stand in Pima County:
• After trailing on Election Night, Republican Treasurer Beth Ford pulled ahead of Democrat Brian Bickel by 2,000 votes.
• In a rematch of the 2016 race, Democratic challenger Chris Nanos was still leading Republican Sheriff Mark Napier, the candidate he lost to four years ago. Nanos had captured 51 percent of the vote and was ahead by 6,281 votes.
• Democrat Rex Scott was still leading the District 1 seat on the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Scott, a former school administrator, was holding a lead of nearly 2 percentage points (or more than 2,400 votes) over Republican Steve Spain for the seat now held by retiring Supervisor Ally Miller.
If Scott’s lead holds up, it would be the first time a Democrat has held the District 1 seat in decades.
It would also mean four Democrats will be on the Pima County Board of Supervisors next year.
• In District 2, Democrat Matt Heinz, who defeated longtime Supervisor Ramon Valadez in the August primary, easily dispatched Republican Anthony Sizer, winning 68 percent of the vote.
• In District 3, Democrat Sharon Bronson won a seventh term on the board after she captured 58 percent of the vote against GOP challenger Gabby Saucedo Mercer.
• In District 4, incumbent GOP Supervisor Steve Christy will be the sole Republican on the Board of Supervisors after he won 54 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Steve Diamond.
• In District 5, in the race for the open seat previously held by the late Supervisor Richard Elias, Democrat Adelita Grijalva defeated Republican Fernando Gonzales with 74 percent of the vote.
• In the race for County Recorder, Democrat Gabriella Cázares-Kelly had 60 percent of the vote against Republican Benny White.
• Democrat Suzanne Droubie had won 58 percent of the vote against Republican Jo Ann Sabbagh in the race for County Assessor.
• After winning a three-way primary race in August, Democrat Laura Conover was unopposed in the contest to replace Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, who is stepping down after six terms. County School Superintendent Dustin Williams was also unopposed in his bid for a second term.
A typo has been corrected in this article's headline.
It’s Ballet Tucson’s 35th anniversary and the company is hitting the town to celebrate with social distancing performances at several local hotspots.
The 2020 Pop Up Performances kick-off Saturday at the Tucson Botanical Gardens with a Día de los Muertos-themed recital taking place alongside the garden’s La Calavera Catrina exhibit featuring 9-foot-tall skeletal depictions of figures of Mexican culture.
"I am so happy to be performing in these pop ups . . . art is so vital to our community, and during these times particularly so,” said Ballet Tucson company dancer Casey Myrick in a recent email. “Ballet has always famously brought magic to life for children and adults alike. The setting of the first pop up this weekend in the Tucson Botanical Gardens lends itself exquisitely to this show and couldn't be a more fitting venue."
However, before you attend be aware you need to purchase time-specific tickets at tucsonbotanical.org. The Botanical Gardens is limiting guest capacity and requiring face masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Upcoming performances:
- Nov. 7 – 6:30 p.m. & 8 p.m. at the Tucson Botanical Gardens
- Nov. 15 – 11:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m. the Tucson Museum of Art
- Dec. 5 – 6:30 p.m. & 8 p.m. Holiday theme at Reid Park Zoo
- Dec. 12 – 6:30 p.m. & 8 p.m. Holiday theme at the Tucson Botanical Gardens
- Dec. 20 – 11:30 a.m. & noon Holiday theme at St. Philip’s Plaza, free performance
Elegant dance moves on the stage are only part of the story, because the pandemic has shuttered the company’s ability to collect ticket sales. However, Ballet Tucson had a successful fundraising campaign during the summer and sees the Pop Up Performances as a means to assist local attractions during the pandemic.
The performances are included in the cost of admission to the venue and it’s a way to support these local institutions.
“We just wanted to make sure that we were partnering with organizations that have deep roots within the community,” Mullin said.
Uplifting others is a common refrain from Tucson Ballet this fall with Mullin expressing her gratitude to Tucson Weekly readers for naming the troupe the Best Dance Company in Best of Tucson 2020.
“It makes it so much easier knowing that the community has confidence in us and values us, because we know that no matter what steps we have to take going forward, they will be there to support us,” she said.
For those unable to attend in person, the company has online offerings including its bi-weekly series “Ballet Tucson 101” on YouTube and previews on Facebook at @ballettucson.
Tickets are only accepted at your preregistered time in order to comply with social distancing and COVID-19 precaution measures, restrictions vary by location. For more information visit www.ballettucson.org/performances-and-tickets
With 1,996 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 254,000 as of Friday, Nov. 6, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which saw its number of cases jump by 308 yesterday, had seen 29,764 of the state’s 254,764 confirmed cases.
With 22 new deaths reported yesterday, a total of 6,109 Arizonans had died after contracting COVID-19, including 650 deaths in Pima County, according to the Nov. 6 report.
Although the current rise in COVID-19 cases is alarming, Gov. Doug Ducey warned last week there’s even worse to come.
“We know that there is a storm ahead of us, yet it’s not here,” Ducey said. “But those simple guidelines of wearing a mask, washing our hands, being socially distanced and using common sense have served us very well to date.”
However, the governor doesn’t plan on imposing new safety restrictions to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
“The mitigation that we’ve put out, the plan we put into effect remains in effect. I am proud that Arizona is open, that our economy is open, that our educational institutions are open and our tourist destinations are open,” Ducey said. “While at the same time, we do have mitigation steps in place that have allowed us to protect lives while protecting livelihoods, and we’re gonna continue to do that.”
But public health officials are warning that unless trends reverse, the state could face a “staggering” death toll, according to Cronkite News.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined from July peaks but has ticked upward in recent weeks as the virus has begun to spread more rapidly. ADHS reported that as of Nov. 5, 1,082 COVID patients were hospitalized in the state. 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 1,077 people visited emergency rooms on Nov. 5 with COVID symptoms, the highest that number has been since Aug. 8. That number peaked at 2,008 on July 7; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28.
