COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Arizona in January 2020. As of June 3, 2021 Arizona public health authorities reported 322 new cases of COVID-19 and five deaths, bringing the cumulative totals since the start of the pandemic to 882,691 cases and 17,653 deaths.[6] 12.3% of the state's population has been positively diagnosed with COVID-19 since the first case was reported on January 26, 2020.[6]
In the two-month period after Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey abruptly ended Arizona's statewide lockdown on May 15, 2020, the seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in Arizona soared, from an average of 377 cases per day to 3,249 cases on July 15. On July 8, Arizona reported as many new cases of COVID-19 as the entire European Union, while having 1/60th of the population.[7] On June 17, Governor Ducey, under pressure due to rising COVID cases, publicly encouraged Arizona citizens to wear masks and allowed individual cities and counties to issue mask mandates.[8] No statewide mandate was issued, but most major cities and counties in AZ issued local mandates.[8] COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to rise through July, with 172 deaths reported on July 30, 2020.[6]
After four months during which the day over day increase in new COVID-19 cases never dropped below 1%, in August the case rate dropped dramatically, to less than 900 new cases per day.[6] A generally low new case rate continued in Arizona through October 2020 but in November a second major COVID-19 surge began, reaching new records in early January 2021.[6] January 3's 17,236 new cases and January 12's 335 deaths both set new single day records in Arizona.[6] The COVID-19 pandemic in the Navajo Nation has been particularly serious because of poor health, food and limited access to essential services.[9]
As of March 10, 2023, Arizona has administered 14,526,275 COVID-19 vaccine doses. Arizona has fully vaccinated 4,809,730 people, equivalent to 65% percent of the population.[10]
Timeline[edit]
January 2020[edit]
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Arizona was announced by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) on January 26, 2020. A 20-year-old male student of Arizona State University (ASU), who had traveled to Wuhan, China, the point of origin of the outbreak,[1][2] was diagnosed with COVID-19 and placed in isolation. Twenty-six days after the initial diagnosis and subsequent isolation, and after repeated negative tests, the student was released from isolation and has since made a full recovery. This case was the fifth reported COVID-19 case overall in the United States at the time of the confirmation.[3][4][11]
Epidemiology and public health response[edit]
Initial exposures and spread[edit]
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Arizona was reported on January 26, 2020, in Tempe. The patient, a 20-year-old male Arizona State University (ASU) student, had returned from Wuhan, China. The second confirmed case was reported on March 3, 2020, in Maricopa County in a 20-year-old male who had traveled outside the state.[89] On March 6, ADHS reported the third case, a woman in her 40s, who represented the first identified case likely caused by community spread.[90] Community spread is thought to have begun around early March with a doubling time of cases between March 17–24 of 1.7 days.[91] On March 26, ADHS updated the community transmission level of COVID-19 to widespread.[92]
Clusters of cases have been linked to assisted living and long-term care facilities as well as other congregate settings.[93][94] The first cases linked to such settings were reported the week of March 22, 2020.[94]
Hospitalization and hospital capacity[edit]
According to ADHS, 5% of COVID-19 cases have been hospitalized.[95] Of these, Native Americans and African Americans have been disproportionately represented in Maricopa County.[96]
To increase hospital capacity and handle a potential surge in COVID-19 patients, on March 30, ADHS announced that St. Luke's Medical Center which closed in November, 2019 would be reopened with the help of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Arizona National Guard.[97] The initial plan included over 330 ICU beds with a reopening date in late April; however, though ready, St. Luke's has not been reopened, and ADHS's current plan is to use it for a lower level of care if needed.[98] On April 21, 2020, the ADHS established the Arizona Surge Line, a centralized statewide system for hospitals and medical providers, which enables coordination when COVID-19 case levels become overwhelming.[99] The system aims to facilitate patient transfer from one level of care to another, coordinate transfer of patients to balance patient numbers across hospitals when resources are scarce, and support clinicians who are treating cases.[100] In Tucson, patients have been transferred to Phoenix and out of state when capacity was reached in early July.[101] Beginning June 27, 2020, hospitals in Arizona requested implementation of 'crisis standards of care' to aid in decision making when and if resources are limited.[102] As of July 2, 2020, however, no hospitals were having to triage patients under this plan.[103] Also on July 2, 2020, adult intensive care bed use first reached a high of 91%.[95] Hospital bed status is self reported daily to ADHS as per executive order 2020–37.[104]
Impact[edit]
Economy[edit]
In April 2020, Arizona received $1.86 billion of federal relief funds from the CARES Act.[133] From this amount, much of the funds were reallocated to cities and organizations/businesses: Phoenix ($293 million),[134] Mesa ($90 million),[135] Tucson ($96 million), the Mayo Clinic ($29.6 million), Scottsdale Healthcare Hospitals ($27.8 million), Mesa Air ($92.5 million).[136] In that same month, the state unemployment rate reached a high of 12.6%, which included a loss of 276,300 jobs. The economic loss primarily occurred in leisure and hospitality, including bars/restaurants and travel accommodations.[137]
In May 2020, the state's Joint Legislative Budget Committee predicted a $1.1 billion budget shortfall through the 2021 fiscal year. The losses were largely anticipated from the expected drop of corporate income tax (by 39%), income tax withholdings (by 15%), and the increase in state costs due to healthcare. From mid-March to May, over half a million individuals had filed unemployment claims in Arizona.[138] Some Arizonans reported an issue with receiving the additional unemployment funds from the CARES Act.[139]
On 1 June 2020, the Arizona Department of Economic Security (AZDES) announced that it received over $24 million from the coronavirus relief bill. The department stated that the funds would be used to assist low-income individuals with utility bills, housing payments, and employment assistance.[140] In that same week, the number of unemployment applications since mid-March rose over 620,000 claims.[141]
Schools[edit]
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States, academic institutions across Arizona moved to distance learning. On March 30, Governor Ducey declared a statewide closure for all schools and mandated the option for students to complete coursework in an alternate method.[142]
Following the lifting of the Arizona's lockdown order, Gov. Ducey announced that schools would be reopening for face-to-face instruction in the fall. The director of Arizona Department of Health services, Dr. Cara Christ, described the intent to "reduce class sizes, create disinfectant protocols and be flexible with parents and employees who have health problems that put them at higher risk for severe complications from COVID-19."[143][144]
On 1 June 2020, the Arizona Department of Education released guidelines for the reopening of public schools. Measures included masks for staff and older students, staying home in the event of COVID-19 symptoms or diagnosis, provisions for frequent disinfection of surfaces, and socially distanced seating.[145] Ducey announced on June 29, 2020, that in-person school would be delayed until August 17.[146] On July 24, Ducey announced that schools would not reopen in person until public health benchmarks were reached, and that these benchmarks would be determined by ADHS by August 7.[147][148] On August 6, Ducey as well as Christ from ADHS and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman of the Arizona Department of Education announced the county-level benchmarks that are recommended before in-person learning takes place.[149][150] These benchmarks are 1) a decline in cases (or less than 100 cases per 100,000 individuals for two consecutive weeks), 2) two consecutive weeks with percent positivity of COVID-19 PCR tests below 7%, and 3) two consecutive weeks with hospital visits for COVID-like illnesses in the region below 10%, and ADHS will release county-level data for these every Thursday, beginning August 6.[151] On August 27, Yavapai County became the first to meet these benchmarks.[151] On October 22, ADHS revised the recommendation about when to return to virtual learning from a change in one benchmark to a change in all three benchmarks.[152] In the October 28 benchmarks, most counties were recommended to follow the hybrid model with the exception of Greenlee County where the recommendation is for the traditional model.[151]
Despite not meeting the recommended benchmarks, the governing board for J.O. Combs Unified school district in San Tan Valley voted to resume classes in person on August 17, 2020; however, these plans were cancelled after many teachers staged a "sick out".[153][154] A second school district, the Queen Creek Unified school district, also voted to resume classes in person on Monday with some teachers resigning in response.[155][154]