ARIZONA, USA — As of Oct. 22, 5,859 Arizonans have lost their lives due to the coronavirus and 234,906 Arizonans have tested positive.
While the state saw daily cases decrease after the first peak of the pandemic in July, experts now say increases in daily cases and hospitalization show the state is in another surge.
Team 12’s Bianca Buono sat down with AZDHS director Dr. Cara Christ to discuss the troubling trends, the state’s response and reveals what still keeps her up at night.
The following questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
ASU experts say that we are once again in a surge. Do you agree? And if so, what does that really mean?
We are seeing an increase in our cases, in our rates and in our percent positivity. So, we had been staying relatively flat so we are starting to see that increase. So the department, we are concerned and we are watching those numbers but we know that we are in a different place than we were back in May and June.
Looking at the past seven months, what did we do well and what are we doing now to better prepare?
I think Arizonans have done a really great job at wearing the masks when they’re out in public, staying home when they’re sick and physically distancing so, keeping six feet between you and people who aren’t in your household. I think we also learned that implementing those mitigation requirements at restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theaters all played a big role in reducing the spread and all of those are still in tact and we’ve been working to ensure compliance with those requirements as well.
Anything that stands out to you that in particular that you guys are doing differently as we plan?
So we are definitely trying to get the message out that now is not the time to let your guard down. You want to make sure that you’re wearing a mask. We know everyone’s tired of that but we also have seen that small household gatherings, we’re seeing more of those as transmission risk. And so even if you’re at a loved one’s house or a friend’s house that you feel is safe, it’s still a good idea to maintain that physical distancing and wear a mask.
Do you see schools going back online before the end of the year? And following up, in the past, you’ve said that you are comfortable sending your kids to school. Do you still maintain that it is a safe place for your own children to be?
We work very closely, especially our local health departments, work very closely with the schools to help them with recommendations so if they get cases in their schools, they can make good decisions that can hopefully keep children in in-person learning because we know how important that is. Schools have done a great job working with public health and the parents have done a great job following the recommendations. We know that it is frustrating when you are asked to have your child out for 14 days even though they’re not sick because they may have been in close contact. My children are currently in school. I feel very safe with them there but I also know that now I have a potential risk of transmission. My children can bring it home. That is why you will always find me wearing a mask when I am around people who are not in my household.
If you had to give health experts in Arizona a grade on how you guys have handled the pandemic, what grade level would you give?
I would give us probably a C maybe looking at, you know, how we were able to anticipate I think. But I would give us an A in the overall effort and response that the team has been continuously working. And as we’ve learned, we’ve applied those things for moving forward.
What plans do we have right now to help slow outbreaks in nursing homes this time around?
So we are working with our nursing home associations, our nursing home and our CMS surveyors to provide onsite technical assistance to make sure that we are responding once they get a case and we are working with our federal partners that we are getting information from CMS, from our federal partners in order to be able to target those facilities that may be at high risk and get in there to provide them the technical assistance and the support they need.
If the trends continue, is there potential to stop that visitor policy?
So the visitor policy changes depending on what spread category we are in. So if we are in substantial the visitors are significantly limited without testing and the visitor restrictions ease as you get into moderate and then into minimal. So it will modulate based on where that county is. Most of our counties are in a moderate with one county in minimal. That’s not going to change this week. And so really making sure that visitors are adhering to the testing policies, that they’re maintaining that distance even though we know that it’s been a long hard road waiting to see your loved one but we really do need to take those steps to keep them safe.
What is the biggest issue keeping you up at night right now when it comes to the pandemic?
I think that right now trying to make sure that we get the message out, I am concerned about Thanksgiving. I anticipate, we’re seeing increased cases. We know that the high demographic is going to come back and have dinner. We anticipate seeing a significant increase 10-14 days after Thanksgiving so really reminding people. We know that they are tired and frustrated with wearing the masks, having to stay away from their loved ones, not being able to visit people in long term care but we’re encouraging everybody to keep it up. They’ve been doing such a great job and we really want to keep these numbers as low as possible.
Here is video of Dr. Cara Christ's full interview: