President Joe Biden is recovering at home in Delaware after testing positive for COVID-19 this week. Virus caseloads have been high nationwide, including in Arizona.
Since the start of the pandemic, Arizona has tended to see winter and summer waves of COVID-19. Cases in the state began trending upward in late April this year.
The Arizona Department of Health Services reports about 1,400 Arizonans have been hospitalized for COVID-19 over the last month, about a 40% increase from the previous month. But hospitalizations in the state have leveled off slightly in the past couple of weeks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the Southwest is currently seeing the highest test positivity rates in the country.
About 1.8% of emergency department patients in Arizona recently have been positive for COVID-19, according to the CDC. That’s a little higher than the national average.
But, even amid this summer wave, deaths from the virus have recently remained very low in Arizona and nationwide.
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The FDA plans to add a “black-box warning” to COVID-19 vaccines — that’s the strongest warning the agency can issue. But Will Humble, the Arizona Public Health Association president, says the move isn’t as alarming as it sounds.
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City officials said that they will need to make up $22 million after the American Rescue Plan funds for homeless services expire. Since they are temporary, the city needs to replace the gap to maintain current service levels.
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The University of Arizona and pharmaceutical company Sunshine Biopharma are developing medical technology to minimize the severity of coronavirus infections.
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A new report from the Helios Education Foundation shows Arizona's chronic absence rates still haven't bounced back to pre-pandemic levels.
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Arizonans had been facing hurdles to getting COVID-19 shots amid regulatory confusion caused by shakeups at the CDC. But a state health department order has now cleared the way for broader access.