As Arizona approaches the two-year mark from Governor Doug Ducey's March 30, 2020 executive order mandating the closure of certain businesses and a stay-at-home advisory for all Arizonans, the Arizona Republic reflects on what has happened in those two years of the public health emergency. Following three major surges of COVID-19 in just...
The White House is calling on Congress to act swiftly and pass another round of COVID-19 related funding, noting the consequences for testing, vaccination, boosters, monoclonal antibody treatments, surveillance and research in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic will be dire. This week, more than $5 million in Phase 4 Provider...
With the rise of the Omicron variant continuing the COVID-19 pandemic into the foreseeable future and the Build Back Better Act stalled in Congress, the landscape of healthcare in 2022 is somewhat uncertain. Two analyses, one from the U.S. Office of Public Policy and the other from the J.P. Morgan 2022 Healthcare Conference, lend some...
As the new year approaches, Arizona hospitals and healthcare professionals are gearing up for a new wave of COVID-19 patients to flood the intensive care units and emergency departments that have endured near-capacity numbers since the Delta variant took hold over the summer. Without respite from the prior wave and increased transmission...
On Wednesday, December 22, the state of Arizona reported 2,806 new cases of COVID-19 and 74 new deaths. There have now been 23,816 deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 64.5% of the state is vaccinated at this time. Statewide, 6% of intensive care unit beds and 6% of inpatient hospital beds remain available at this time. Over 40%...National News
COVID-19 is on the upswing again due to the Delta variant's dominance nationwide. But skilled nursing facilities' vaccination rates among staff and healthcare professionals has plateaued. Organizations are taking action to encourage stronger vaccination policies. Additionally, insurance companies are now calling foul on CARES Act...Arizona News
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provided $398 million in funding through the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) to 1,540 small rural hospitals for COVID-19 testing and mitigation; funding allocated by the American Rescue Plan.
State...Arizona News
The first COVID-19 vaccines have been shipped and are now in the process of being administered to frontline healthcare workers and other high-priority members of the public. Additionally, the first over-the-counter self-administered COVID-19 tests have passed Food and Drug Administration authorization and will now move to the...Arizona News
This week the Trump Administration announced that laboratories performing COVID-19 testing that take longer than two days to process results will have payments cut $25 per test beginning January 1. This follows the backlog of tests in Arizona in July and August after the state’s largest COVID-19 spike to date.
Back in August, THR...Arizona News
This week, while cases of COVID-19 are generally up across the country, efforts to improve access to testing and create a vaccine are moving forward. According to government officials, Operation Warp Speed is supposedly on track for 700 million doses of a vaccine while companies report difficulties continuing trials.
In Dr. Gerald’s...Arizona News
Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego said Arizona opened too soon, fueling a boom in new cases among young people. This week, one in four COVID-19 tests returned positive in Arizona - or 25% - the highest in the nation.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, as of June 8, there are 108,614 reported cases of COVID-19 in the...Arizona News
The White House recommends that states achieve a “robust testing program in place for at-risk healthcare workers,” before they begin a phased reopening. However, no further definition of “robust” has been given, and experts disagree on how often those in medical fields should be tested.
When COVID-19 testing is available...
As the total number of Arizona COVID-19 cases is growing exponentially, state officials will continue using a epidemic predictive modeling tool created by 23 researchers from ASU and UA and are preparing to conclude Arizona's testing "blitz" for COVID-19 on May 16.
According to one modeling source featured by the Arizona Department...
