Will Humble
Is another surge coming? Sharply rising COVID-19 cases worry health experts
Arizona had been seeing a decline in COVID-19 cases but new data is showing that cases are continuing to rise, with 11 of the state’s 15 counties having “substantial” spread and the state increasing its number of cases for five consecutive weeks as hospital capacity continues to be strained.
Lawmakers approve money to research marijuana ‘psychosis’
Lawmakers on the final day of the legislative session approved spending $250,000 to research connections between marijuana use and “psychosis,” an idea promoted by a controversial book that scientists have panned as “junk science” The spending, which was attached to broader bill that allocates money from the state’s medical marijuana fund to public health, mental […]
Vaccination rates drop, but officials still hopeful state can hit goal
COVID-19 vaccination rates have fallen sharply in Arizona, but health officials are still hopeful the state can reach a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention goal of vaccinating 70% of Arizonans by July 4.
State pushes flu vaccinations to avert flu-and-COVID-19 ‘perfect storm’
Just over two in five Arizona adults got a flu shot last year, a number state officials are desperate to improve on before the onset of both influenza and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this fall.
Arizona public health officials are preparing for the flu in a COVID world
The start of flu season isn’t generally until October, but public health officials are already preparing for a different kind of response and public outreach campaign than in previous years in advance of what the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said could be the “worst fall” in history.
Judge says Ducey must give gyms opportunity to apply for reopening
A Maricopa County judge handed Mountainside Fitness a partial victory in its challenge to Gov. Doug Ducey’s order closing gyms, ruling that the governor must give them an opportunity to apply for reopening within a week but leaving the order in place.
Capacity data for individual hospitals shielded from public
Anyone worried about how the COVID-19 outbreak is taxing Arizona’s health care system can easily see for themselves how much of the state’s hospital capacity is in use on a given day. But anyone who wants that information for individual hospitals and hospital systems is out of luck.
COVID-19 appears to be on the rise since stay-at-home order expired
The number of new COVID-19 cases is on the rise, other key indicators are also moving in the wrong direction, and the trends appear to coincide with the expiration of Gov. Doug Ducey’s stay-at-home order.
With later COVID-19 peak predicted, re-opening AZ may be weeks off still
Lifting the restrictions implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19 that have shut down large portions of Arizona's economy might be several weeks further away than initially thought, as new predictive models suggest the peak of cases won’t happen for at least a month.