Navajo County Public Health Director Janelle Linn explained that the county is currently seeing more hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 than at any time since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
“As of Jan. 4, we have seen 27,448 total cases for Navajo County since the start of the pandemic, 13,946 being off tribal lands,” Linn said. The week of Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, saw 284 of those cases which also included 11 new deaths.
In total, the county has seen 2,385 hospitalizations and 755 deaths since the onset of the pandemic.
Linn continued, “The Delta variant has hit our county very hard and left an impact. The hardest hit areas of the county are off the tribal lands. Part of that is because the tribal populations are very highly vaccinated, between 70 and 90% of their populations are vaccinated. They are seeing some cases but very few hospitalizations and deaths.”
Conversely, she said, “Off of tribal lands, that is not the case. We are not seeing that. We are seeing high hospitalizations and in fact, Summit right now is in crisis because they are at capacity and have been for two weeks now. We are seeing anywhere on average 10 deaths a week but recently had 43 deaths reported to us.”
She also mentioned some people are seeing reinfection and some are suffering from long hauler COVID. “Our team has been following up with past cases and doing quality of life surveys with them when we can. We have been able to survey about a third of our non-tribal cases and about 33% of those are reporting moderate to significant long hauler symptoms. Those range from severe hair loss to long term loss of taste and smell, and all the way to cardiac issues and heart failure. We are also seeing strokes, chronic respiratory issues and a lot of kidney ailments. We are trying to track that as best we can.”
Vaccination continues to be the best mitigation against COVID-19, according to Linn. She said, “Right now, we are only at about 44.1% vaccinated off tribal lands and Delta remains the predominant strain in Navajo County. However, we expect that to change in the near future. Preliminary evidence suggests vaccine is less effective in preventing Omicron strain. However, patients tend to be experiencing milder symptoms, especially related to severe lung issues with the Omicron strain.”
Dr. Joshua Labaer of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute added, “The vaccine, as we have said, will protect against death and serious disease 15-fold. We are seeing, too, that the booster offers 75% more immunity against Omicron than the first two shots alone.”
Linn continued, “COVID is our new norm and we need to determine what that means, what that looks like and how that should play into our public health planning moving forward. This will be a process that will evolve over years, possibly even decades.
“We know things like substance use/abuse, mental health, poverty and chronic conditions were compounded by COVID and we are starting with evaluating the impact and how to incorporate that into future planning and strategies. This includes exploring funding opportunities, such as grants, to aid in securing resources to address these issues and implement community based public health strategies and initiatives. Public health is constantly evolving, and we are used to adapting with it.”
She also added the county will continue to follow emergency orders given by Governor Doug Ducey. She said, “This requires us to continue with enhanced surveillance, stay abreast of and follow latest CDC (Center for Disease Control) and ADHS (Arizona Department of Health Services) guidance and recommendations and explore grant opportunities to support continued COVID response.”
As the public health department continues to adapt to changing recommendations and procedures, so do area schools.
Last week, the Winslow Unified School District released information regarding updated COVID-19 quarantine and isolation protocols.
Superintendent Connie Gover circulated a letter to parents according to new CDC guidelines. Unvaccinated students and staff with close contact or with diagnosed COVID-19 in the home will now be required to quarantine for five days after the exposure followed by five days of masking. Vaccinated students will not be required to quarantine but will be required to wear a mask for 10 days following exposure.
In regard to students or staff who test positive for COVID-19, a five-day isolation period is required from the day of symptom onset. If no symptoms are apparent, the isolation will begin from the test date. If symptoms last more than five days, students and staff can return if there is no fever for 24 hours without medication, followed by five days of required masking.
It is encouraged that all positive tests must be reported to the school district or Navajo County Public Health.
Also last week, the Winslow Residential Hall reported 11 students and two staff members had tested positive for COVID. As a result, the residence was closed for a thorough cleaning and disinfection that will continue through Jan. 17. Students will be sent home during that time. In order to return, students and staff must present a negative COVID test and will continue to be tested each week moving forward.
Additional information, including statistics, testing sites and vaccination sites is available on the county website at www.navajocountyaz.gov.
