Arizona could be the new COVID-19 capital of the world
TUCSON (KVOA) – The state of Arizona leads the world in new Coronavirus cases in the last seven days according to a study by Johns Hopkins University.
Cases continue to rise in Arizona even after Gov. Doug Ducey partially shut down the state again.
This spike is similar to what states like Florida and South Carolina are seeing, but it appears to be worse in our own state.
Dr. Steffano Mottl has been working in both the outpatient unit and the ICU for six days a week since early June.
“It has been a rough couple weeks since we started climbing up in the numbers here, but things appear to be under control a little more,” Mottl said.
The hardest part for those working in the hospital is that nurses are getting sick at a very high rate putting more strain on the physicians.
“They are out at least a week or 10 days and now they are starting to come back,” Mottl said. “We don’t know for sure if they will have long-lasting immunity or if it’s only temporary.”
Dr. Theresa Cullen has been in charge of the Pima County Health Department since June 1. She said there were multiple factors that lead to the rise of the virus in Arizona.
She said that the state opened rapidly and saw holidays, like Memorial Day and Father’s Day, that most likely contributed.
Cullen said if we stick to wearing masks and keeping our distance, this will slow the spread.
“We need to physically distance. Wash our hands, stay home when you are ill and isolate,” she said. “I think that we perhaps have not been attentive enough to isolation which means if you have COVID-19 in your house, isolate in one room.”
