Friday, August 6, 2021
With 2,826 new positive cases of COBVID-19 reported across Arizona today, health officials are increasingly concerned that the Delta strain is driving a third wave of outbreaks in the state that could be similar to last summer.
In his latest weekly COVID-19 forecast released Friday morning, Dr. Joe Gerald, an epidemiologist with the UA Zuckerman School of Public Health, presented yet another week of bad news, as Arizona saw a 38% increase from last week, with 14,188 Arizonans diagnosed with COVID-19 for the week ending Aug. 1. Further, Arizona currently is experiencing 50 deaths per week and Gerald predicts deaths will increase in the coming weeks, exceeding 100 per week by the end of August.
Gerald said the high rates of transmission signal another substantial surge within the coming weeks.
While the potential size and/or duration of the surge remains uncertain, he said it “will likely be at least the size of the summer 2020 outbreak and may approach that of the winter 2021 wave.”
Last summer, cases peaked at around 5,500 cases of COVID-19 and over 12,000 during the winter. Gerald finds the current outbreak is most similar to the winter surge, with both beginning at a rate of 40 cases per 100,000 residents per week. Sixty-five days later, the rates for the winter 2020 and summer 2021 outbreaks were 220 and 195 cases per 100,000 residents per week, respectively.
“While these two curves may diverge, it would be prudent to assume they won’t unless we intervene to slow transmission,” said Gerald. “Unfortunately, we are squandering the efforts of the vaccinated and ignoring the sacrifices of the previously ill and dead, to party like it was 1999.”
Gerald also noted that despite a higher degree of vaccination for those 65 and older the current community transmission is impacting hospitals similarly to how it did last winter.
“Because herd immunity applies to populations not age groups, high vaccination rates among those greater than 65 years doesn’t provide any protection to those who interact with unvaccinated adults who have much lower levels of vaccination,” said Gerald. “So, we should not hold a false sense of security that this outbreak will necessarily have less impact on our already overburdened hospital system.”
The Arizona Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey have limited the ability of local jurisdictions and schools to respond to the rise in cases.
In response to the updated CDC guidance, recommending individuals mask in public indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination in areas of high or substantial transmission, Gov. Doug Ducey remained unmoved.
"Arizona does not allow mask mandates, vaccine mandates, vaccine passports or discrimination in schools based on who is or isn’t vaccinated. We’ve passed all of this into law, and it will not change,” said Ducey in a press release on July 27. “The CDC today is recommending that we wear masks in school and indoors, regardless of our vaccination status. This is just another example of the Biden-Harris administration’s inability to effectively confront the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As most school districts returned to in-person instruction this week, they are already seeing positive cases. Since schools can't require masks, Gerald expects “frequent school-related outbreaks and accelerating community transmission.”
They’ve scrimped, they’ve saved, and they’ve made it through some of the deepest and darkest days of 2020. Now, the comedy troupe at Unscrewed Comedy is faced with a new trial: They need to put on actual pants, because they’re bringing back live, in-person comedy!
There’s no doubt that finding little pockets of fun and laughter is part of what got us through the last terrible year or so. But there’s nothing quite like a roaringly funny, family-friendly live comedy show. That’s part of what makes these nights full of improvised delight such a special, magical treat.
They’ve got all of their house teams on deck: Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed, FromtheTop, Comic Chaos, and Big Daddies. Plus, special guest stars Ken Carr and Aaron Maus (host of the Computer Doctor Show)!
Do some stretching before you come, because you’ll likely be laughing so hard you’ll work out muscles you didn’t know you had. And get ready to make suggestions, because audience members get to participate and help shape the show.
Be sure to also keep an eye out for the other shows of the month, featuring plenty of special guest stars and funny stuff. If you’ve decided it’s finally time you learn how to be funny yourself, then check out the live, in-person classes they’re also beginning to offer this month!
Shows are at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the month. (And psssst, on Saturday, Aug. 14 and Aug. 28, they’ll also be doing an UNCENSORED show at 9 p.m.) Tickets are just $8 for adults and $5 for kids. Get ‘em at unscrewedtheater.org.
FC Tucson wants to help out teachers this weekend, so the local soccer team is donating a portion of ticket revenue to the Marana Unified School District, Faith Christian Academy and the International School of Tucson.
When you buy a $15 ticket to Saturday's game against North Texas SC, you can direct $5 to any of those schools—or you can even pick a school of your choice.
“We felt like it was important to honor teachers after a year and half of tumultuous times,” said Amanda Powers, president of FC Tucson. “We’re excited to provide a safe and fun way to regather and share in the joy of the beautiful game. We hope Saturday’s match is a victory for teachers, for schools, for students, and for our guys on the pitch.”
The game starts at 7 p.m. at Kino North Stadium. You can purchase tickets at FCTucson.com/Tickets.
Jacob Dindinger, an EMT who was fatally shot while answering a call last month, will be laid to rest Monday.
Dindinger was one of two people killed during a July 18 shooting spree. He had been on the job for four months. He died on July 29.
The public is invited to pay their respects along the memorial procession route beginning at about 10:20 a.m. at Adair Funeral Home, 8090 N. Northern Ave. in Oro Valley. A memorial service will take place at Casas Church at 11 a.m., immediately after the procession.
Procession route:
- Start on Northern Ave., heading south.
- Turn Right onto W. Magee Rd
- Continue West past N. La Canada Blvd
- Turn right onto W. Old Magee Rd.
- Turn right onto N. La Cholla Blvd
- Continue north past W. Overton Rd
- Continue north past W. Lambert Ln
- Turn left onto Cross Rd and arrive at Casas Church, 10801 N. La Canada Blvd.
PHOENIX – Cynthia Macluskie has memories of her 3-year-old son sneaking out of their Cave Creek home late at night, while she was asleep.
“At 6 o’clock in the morning, someone’s banging on my door. … I still get goosebumps from this,” she said, looking down at her arm during an interview.
A couple who’d woken up early for work found her son, Mark, and the Macluskies’ dog playing near a ravine, and the family’s address was on the dog’s collar.
That was more than 20 years ago. But Macluskie, vice president of the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix, said she knows other families might not be as lucky as she was that night when a loved one with a disability goes missing.
Mark was engaging in a behavior that’s common among youngsters on the autism spectrum: wandering or elopement – a tendency to run off from a safe area or caregiver. Research shows it’s common in about half of youth on the spectrum; 1 in 4 children are missing long enough to cause concern and are most in danger of drowning or traffic injuries.
“I think that happens more than we hear reported because people are embarrassed. They don’t want to admit that it happened,” said Macluskie, who shares her story as a cautionary tale. “That took a lot of ingenuity for him to get out of our house. He was pretty fast and pretty smart about it.”
Thursday, August 5, 2021
PHOENIX – In the Zoom window, Odele Pax looks small, contained. Her boisterous laugh and candor belie her many mentions of how nervous she is. Pax holds back tears as she talks about her journey toward gender affirmation.
“There are no words to describe how liberating it feels, you know, that, finally, I not only know who I am, but I get to turn to the world and say, ‘Look … this has always been who I am,’ ” Pax said.
Pax, originally from New York City and now living in Queen Creek, is referring to the process of legally changing her name to match her trans femme label. She’s one of more than 100 people who reached out to Daniel Riley, a family attorney with Curry, Pearson and Wooten, on his offer to do pro bono gender-confirming name changes for trans and nonbinary people in honor of Pride month in June.
Riley said the need is great in the LGBTQ+ community for name changes, and he hopes to make it a bigger project. He’s not taking new clients at present.
“It would definitely be a more systematic approach next year, now that we know the kind of response we’re going to see,” he said.
Riley, who has practiced in metro Phoenix for 11 years, said he made his offer because name changes are easy for lawyers and life-changing for clients.
