/ Modified dec 17, 2020 4:02 p.m.

News roundup: Pharmacies to aid in vaccine rollout, half of Arizona counties in ‘substantial spread’

Recent coverage impacting Southern Arizona, Dec. 17.

Arizona COVID-19 cases: 7 days

Map shows COVID-19 cases and case rates over the week preceding the last update.

Credit: Nick O'Gara/AZPM. Sources: The New York Times, based on reports from state and local health agencies, Census Bureau. Case reports do not correspond to day of test.

Cases 435,036 | Deaths 7,677

On Thursday, Dec. 17, Arizona reported 5,817 new cases of COVID-19 and 147 additional deaths. Only 8% of intensive care unit beds remain unoccupied, as of Dec. 16, state health department data shows.


Pharmacies will help vaccinate long-term care residents

AZPM

Major pharmacy chains will work with the state and federal government to ensure residents of long-term care facilities quickly receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The first people to receive the vaccine are healthcare workers but next on the list are people living in congregate living facilities.

Officials with the Arizona Department of Health Services said the plan to get those residents vaccinated efficiently is to partner with national pharmacy chains, including Walgreens.

Learn more here.


Three Pima supervisors bow out

AZPM

Three Pima County supervisors are leaving the board at the end of this year, including the longest-serving member and one whose short-time service was unexpected. Democrat Ramon Valadez was defeated for reelection in the August primary, after serving District 2 for 17 years. Matt Heinz will take the seat next month. Valadez didn't go out quietly, making an impassioned plea at his final meeting Tuesday, urging the board to make the county's nightly quarantine mandatory.

Also departing was Betty Villegas, a county retiree called into service after her friend, District 5 Supervisor Richard Elias, died in March. Tuesday, Villegas said it has been a learning experience.

Republican Ally Miller, who represented District 1, is retiring, and Democrat Rex Scott will take her place in January.

Learn more here.


Half of Arizona counties seeing substantial virus spread

AP

PHOENIX — State health officials say half of the counties in Arizona are seeing “substantial” spread of COVID-19.

Weekly metrics released Thursday by the Arizona Department of Health Services listed eight counties, including Pima, in southern and eastern Arizona with a substantial number of cases. Arizona’s other seven counties, including Maricopa, remained classified as moderate.

The figures show 5,817 new confirmed cases and 147 more deaths throughout the state. Gov.

Doug Ducey has resisted a return to business closures and a stay-home order he imposed in the early stages of the outbreak, saying it’s up to people to take personal responsibility for slowing the spread.

Learn more here.


Navajo Nation reports another 160 COVID cases plus 4 deaths

AP

WINDOW ROCK — Navajo Nation health officials on Wednesday reported 160 new COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day plus four more related deaths.

In all, the tribe now has reported 20,095 coronavirus cases resulting in 731 deaths since the pandemic began. Health officials say more than 186,000 people on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah have been tested and nearly 11,000 have recovered from COVID-19.

Navajo Department of Health officials say 77 communities on the reservation still have uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus. The Navajo Nation has extended its stay-at-home order though Dec. 28 in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.

Learn more here.


Vaccines reach COVID-ravaged Indigenous communities

AP

SANTA FE, N.M. — The first doses of the coronavirus vaccine are arriving at Native American communities that have been disproportionately sickened and killed by the pandemic. The communities around the U.S. have been hit hard despite curfews, roadblocks and the suspension of business, including casinos and artisanal trading posts.

Vaccinations began Tuesday for health workers at clinics across the Navajo and Hopi nations in parts of Arizona and New Mexico, where 3,900 doses are being delivered to clinics. On Thursday, the vaccine reached the Lummi Nation on an oceanside Washington state peninsula.

Small tribes including Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico are partnering with trusted state health officials to vaccinate.

Learn more here.


Damage from border wall: Blown-up mountains, toppled cactus

AP

GUADALUPE CANYON — Government contractors are igniting dynamite blasts in the remote and rugged southeast corner of Arizona, forever reshaping the landscape as they pulverize mountaintops.

The pace to build President Donald Trump's border wall has picked up in his last weeks in office.

It's created environmental damage, the worst of it along Arizona's border. Century-old saguaro cactuses have been toppled, and ponds with endangered fish are shrinking. Recent construction has sealed off the last major undammed river in the Southwest. It's more difficult for desert tortoises, the occasional ocelot and the world's tiniest owls to cross the boundary.

The Trump administration says it's protecting national security, citing it to waive environmental laws.

Learn more here.


Sonora Begins Using COVID-19 Detecting Dogs At Testing Site

Fronteras Desk

After months of training, four dogs are now helping authorities screen for COVID-19 cases at a testing site in the Sonoran capital Hermosillo.

As of this week, the four COVID-detecting dogs have entered a trial phase, according to State Health Secretary Enrique Clausen. And so far, he said, they have been extremely effective.

“This is one more strategy to take on COVID-19," Clausen said. "It won’t supplant PCR or rapid testing, but will reinforce our attention to every measure possible.”

During this trial period, the dogs will help sniff out cases of coronavirus at a testing center, though patients will still receive further testing to verify that the dogs correctly detected the virus.

Five more dogs are still in training, and if all nine can pass the trial phase, Clausen said, they will be stationed at the city’s airport, public hospitals and other strategic locations to detect coronavirus cases.


Dozens of states file anti-trust lawsuit against Google

AP

DENVER — Dozens of states filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google on Thursday, alleging that the search giant has an illegal monopoly over the online search market that hurts consumers and advertisers.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. by attorneys general of 35 states as well as the District of Columbia and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico.

The case is the third antitrust salvo to slam Google during the past two months as the Department of Justice and attorneys general from across the U.S. weigh in with how they believe the company is abusing its immense power.

Learn more here.

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