Protecting health care workers from harassment was the headline concern at a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) last Thursday. The event, "The Targeting of Scientists and Public Health Professionals," was the first in a planned series that will address increases in harassment and violence toward public...
The nursing workforce shortage shows no sign of letting up, with concerns rising for providers both nationally and in Arizona. While the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) debates efforts to intervene with workforce protections from future COVID surges, experts suggest that efforts for recruitment and retention may...
Fallout from COVID-19 policies continue as hospitals nationwide struggle to maintain a workforce. Nurse and healthcare worker unions and advocacy organizations blame hospital policies and reduced pay for the worker shortages. OSHA moved to revoke Arizona's state plan after ongoing violations of federal policy to enforce worker...
As COVID-19 cases drastically subside following the surge related to the Omicron variant, Americans are beginning to relax restrictions and anxieties related to the pandemic. However, other countries around the world are now struggling to contain Omicron surges that arrived much later and experts are warning that complacency could invite...
The official number of global deaths from COVID-19 surpassed six million on Monday, 4% of which were recorded in the last month. The United States is very close to reaching a million deaths on its own, and Arizona's death count exceeded the 28,000 marker this week.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) COVID-19...
The seven-day rolling average for COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has been trending upward since late fall and experts warn that the unprecedented level of daily COVID-19 infections due to the Omicron variant will bring a sharp increase in deaths soon.
Despite the lower chance of becoming sick due to the "mild" symptoms associated with...
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden addressed the nation in an attempt to calm fears about skyrocketing COVID-19 cases and overwhelmed hospitals across the country. The president leaned on the vaccine for mitigating hospitalization rates as the cases continue to surge due to the highly-transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.
We have in...
The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has surged in the United States in the past week and now accounts for 73% of new infections. The CDC showed a six-fold increase in Omicron infection in a single week. In the New York area, the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest, the variant is responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections,...
The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa and prompted concerns among scientists and global public health officials because it carries an unusually high number of mutations. The World Health Organization has called Omicron a "variant of concern". Cases have been identified in 20 countries so far, including the United...
The COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for distribution in children as Pfizer now moves to request authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to recommend booster shots for all adults six months after vaccination. Meanwhile, the vaccine mandate has ruffled feathers of both big businesses and conservative leadership at the state...
There were 6,299 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Arizona on Wednesday, and there were 81 newly reported deaths. This brings the total of COVID-19-related deaths in Arizona to 21,044. Of intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 9% statewide are available and 25% are currently in use by COVID-19 patients.
This information comes from the...
On Tuesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it would intervene in three states, including Arizona, revoking their authority to regulate workplace safety. This announcement comes as Governor Doug Ducey's administration is embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with the federal government over the use of...
Cases of COVID-19 appear to be on the downward trend nationally, as the number of new cases on October 12 falls to 111,707. Last month at this time, the surge related to the Delta variant of COVID-19 was at its worst with a seven-day average of over 175,000 new cases per day. There were 1,938 new deaths related to the coronavirus on...
On October 5, there were 101,668 new cases of COVID-19 reported across the entire United States and 1,808 new deaths. At least 65% of Americans of all ages have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 56% are fully vaccinated. Transmission rates remain high nationwide, largely due to the spread of the more-contagious Delta...
Last Thursday, President Joe Biden announced new vaccine requirements for the American public, mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for 100 million Americans including all healthcare workers.
The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) has been directed to develop a rule that will require all employers...
