By L. Parsons Navajo County Public Health Director Jeff Lee has concerns about the rise in COVID-19 cases in Navajo County. “As of Nov. 3, we have 6,579 cases and 243 deaths in our county. I would consider the rise a very significant rise and trending much like we were in early June. During the month of September, the highest number of new cases in one day was 16. In October, we averaged 29 new cases per day with a high of 60 in one day.” Lee explained that there is no one city or town in the county that is showing more cases than the others consistently. “All of our cities are seeing an increase. There are days when one area might have more new cases than others, but the average of new cases is very consistent across the county.” Multiple cases have been detected in every school system in the county. When asked if the influx in infection is due to schools opening for in-person learning, Lee said, “We have seen additional cases since reopening schools, which we anticipated. The virus thrives in congregant settings. I wouldn’t call it a huge influx like many predicted. Partly because all of our schools are doing a great job at following the Arizona Department of Health Services and Arizona Department of Education recommendations, which I believe is helping keep our cases in schools at a minimum.” Last week, it was reported that AZDHS had changed the benchmarks previously set forth for opening schools and at-risk businesses. Lee explained, “Currently, Navajo County falls into the moderate transmission category, which recommends a hybrid learning model for schools, offering in-person as well as distance learning options. With the steady rise of cases, it is possible for Navajo County to fall back into the substantial transmission category in the near future. “The benchmarks themselves were not moved. The only change was when AZDHS recommended schools move out of in-person learning. Prior to last week, the recommendation was schools should consider all distance learning when one or more of the benchmarks are in substantial transmission for two consecutive weeks. Now, the recommendation is that schools should consider distance learning when all three benchmarks are in substantial transmission for two weeks.” Besides schools, other instances of increase community spread include small gatherings. “We are seeing cases from smaller gatherings. Family gatherings where we are feeling more comfortable and not always following the mask or physical distancing recommendations. That does not mean large gatherings are any safer, we need to be better at always following the recommendations regardless of how many people are in attendance.” Throughout the pandemic, testing has been an issue. Lee said, “Getting test results in a timely matter has been and will continue to be a challenge. Unfortunately, all but a few states are experiencing a rise in cases, which will put more demand on testing and increasing the workload at laboratories. Our hope is that with more rapid testing capacity in the county, we can offset the longer turnaround times for the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) lab results.” A rapid testing system is being discussed to use in school systems countywide. Lee explained, “We are working with the school districts and emergency medical organizations to offer and administer the BinaxNow Rapid test. This is a nasal swab rapid test that will help these organizations quickly identify a COVID positive individual. Each organization who chooses to participate will determine how to best use them. The Health Department will provide technical assistance and training. Arizona is expected to receive over two million of these tests kits and we anticipate Navajo County’s allotment to be around 35,000.” Lee said that continuing to follow recommendations of hand washing, wearing facial covers, physical distancing and staying home when feeling ill should be a priority. “We continue to see cases where the spread happens because someone went to work or school when they shouldn’t have.” He also said that they are still experiencing some resistance from residents to be forthcoming during contact tracing. This is a concern because tracing has the potential of slowing the spread according to CDC reports. Navajo County provides a dashboard to track cases on their website, www.navajocountyaz.gov. The Arizona Department of Health Services also offers a website that is updated daily at www.azdhs.gov.
