Emergency departments across Arizona are flooded with patients seeking care for respiratory illnesses as cases of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 have risen simultaneously.
Valleywise Health told AZCentral that the rise in patient volumes was related to the unsheltered and substance use disorder crises as unhoused...
COVID-19 cases are rising quickly across the U.S. and hospitalizations are not far behind.
The rise in cases is caused by a new, rapidly spreading dominant variant, called JN.1, which currently represents more than 60% of cases. In an interview with PBS Newshour, infectious disease epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera explained that...
The joint commitment among the five founding members aims to leverage learned lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic response into actionable strategies that will strengthen the partnership between healthcare and public health systems.
In March 2023, the Common Health Coalition (CHC) was formed by AHIP, the American Medical Association...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
The Network for Public Health Law, a legal advocacy organization for public health law and policy, published a report that analyzed specific markers of advocacy capacity for public health law in all 50 states. It notes that Arizona had the lowest public health spending in the nation.
The report, The State of State-level Public...
COVID-19 cases are beginning to subside after a summer spike, but officials are recommending that Americans receive the newly released vaccine or a dose of the newly-authorized Novovax, prior to the expected winter surge in cases.
In Arizona, cases were down 5% week over week with 3,134 new cases reported for the week beginning on...
The scope of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority was clearly illustrated this week as it authorized a new COVID-19 vaccine and was penalized for a tweet about Ivermectin by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Fifth Circuit, a notoriously conservative court comprised of Bush and Trump appointees, sided with three...
COVID-19 cases are still on the rise across the country, including in Arizona.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention COVID Data Tracker, there was a 15% increase in hospitalizations and a 20% increase in COVID-related deaths over the past week.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) COVID-19 Data...
Three new COVID variants are driving the rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, with hospitalizations from the virus reaching its highest levels since April. Public health officials are encouraging the public to take the updated bivalent COVID booster when it is released in the fall, in addition to the updated vaccine against...
The coronavirus is back with a midsummer uptick in cases for the first time since the end of the public health emergency (PHE) in May.
The last full week of July logged 9,056 COVID-19 related hospitalizations at an increase of 12% week-over-week. Deaths related to COVID-19 have remained steady since early June, with 500-600 deaths...
On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary posted projections for national health expenditures (NHE) through 2031. The report projects health spending will represent 20% of the U.S. economy and spending will surpass $7 trillion annually by 2031.
The CMS release states that the NHE and health...
Beginning next week, every skilled nursing facility in the country will undergo a five-claim audit as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) aims to get improper payments under control. Meanwhile, nursing homes are expressing concern about the effects that Medicaid redeterminations and subsequent disenrollment's could have...
Last week, the Arizona Senate hosted the Novel Coronavirus Southwestern Intergovernmental Committee, which heard testimony from several dubiously-credentialed health professionals on the Arizona response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, the National Institutes of Health released data demonstrating Arizona had a much higher rate of...
A new, highly infectious COVID-19 subvariant is growing in dominance across the country as healthcare providers relax mask mandates. In Arizona, Republicans have launched an investigation into the state's COVID-19 response, contending that it was mismanaged.
High levels of the variant XBB.1.16, or "Arcturus," have been found in Los...
A single shot of the bivalent booster will become the standard vaccination regimen for people seeking their first COVID-19 vaccination.
Only a single dose will be needed for most people, instead of the currently-recommended two doses. According to the Wall Street Journal, a second booster will be authorized for groups that are high...
Last Saturday marked the third anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a worldwide pandemic.
As the Arizona Republic points out in a retrospective, since that declaration, COVID-19 has killed more than 1.1 million Americans and 33,000 Arizonans.
There were 4,262 new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona this week with 56 new deaths related...
Arizona lawmakers made progress on several bills related to healthcare and COVID-19 this week.
Last Tuesday, the Arizona Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved HB 2474, which would prohibit schools from requiring immunizations issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under emergency use authorization for...
Maybe it was a lab leak after all? Or maybe not. This week the U.S. Energy Department announced that it determined that the COVID-19 pandemic most likely arise from a laboratory leak. Governor Katie Hobbs proclaims COVID-19 Memorial Day.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the announcement was made after a classified report was...
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will allow Arizona to continue operating its own state plan for worker safety and health. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offer insight into life without the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an...
This week, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is required to report 26,866 new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona, but it does not signal an unprecedented new surge.
In a blog post, the department stressed that this number comes from a single laboratory reporting cases that occurred over the course of last year. The case count...
The Arizona Senate's new Committee on Director Nominations rejected Governor Katie Hobbs's appointee for director of Arizona Department of Health Services, Dr. Theresa Cullen.
Dr. Cullen headed the Pima County Department of Public Health throughout the pandemic. Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who leads the panel and the...