The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently listed Arizona as a state having a massive outbreak of the novel coronavirus, topping the entire nation.
What’s going on?
The CDC’s new infection tracker map showed that Arizona ranked ahead of California, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kansas for average daily cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days.
- Arizona ranks ahead of California despite the Golden State’s troubling experience with the coronavirus right now. California has seen a surge in cases, especially in Los Angeles County, where doctors have rationed care.
Arizona’s numbers might be even worse. State health officials said Arizona is still waiting on data from Native American communities. The high transmission has happened across the state, including in Phoenix.
- Arizona “is one of a handful of states that have been resistant to employ strict measures to control the virus,” according to The Hill. “It does not have a mask mandate and remains largely devoid of restrictions on indoor dining, bars and nightclub activities that other states implemented months ago to slow COVID-19’s spread.”
What about Utah?
Utah appears on the list behind Oklahoma, ranking eighth on the list with 82.9 cases per 100,000 people. That’s ahead of West Virginia and New York, according to the CDC map.
Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease specialist with Intermountain Healthcare, told reporters it will take about a week to see the impact from Christmas, New Year’s and the holidays, as the Deseret News reported.
- “Just think, at the end of 2020, we had our highest number of cases on the 31st of December. I think that’s really an epidemiological reminder that we need to buckle down and still stick to the measures that work.”