Students are back on college campuses across Arizona and that may pose challenges to efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the state, according to Dr. David Engelthaler, an epidemiologist with Translational Genomics Research Institute North.
“We have a lot more of what we see as the key part of the population that transmit this virus, that’s the 18-to-25-year-olds,” Engelthaler said. “This group really is who we’re going to have to rely on to step up their resilience, because the more these kinds of gatherings — the drinking, the parties — that virus is going to spread more and then it just starts to seep out back into the community.”
Arizona saw a surge in COVID-19 cases in June following Memorial Day weekend. Engelthaler said Labor Day weekend could make an impact on the spread of the virus in the state as well.
