By L. Parsons Navajo County Public Health Director Jeff Lee is concerned with rising COVID-19 cases in the area. “Cases and hospitalizations are rising at alarming rates,” he said. The rise, according to a conversation with Lee is partially due to small gatherings of friends or family as COVID fatigue has set in. “We all need to be better at following recommendations for personal precautionary measures and we can’t let our guards down. Many cases throughout the U.S are being tied back to smaller gatherings where masks and physical distancing were not followed.” Lee continued, “We highly encourage everyone to wear a mask when outside of their home. The CDC recently reported that masks not only protect those who aren’t wearing them but those who are as well.” Benchmarks have been set by the Arizona Department of Health Services regarding schools. Lee said, “As of today (Nov. 24), we are in the substantial community spread category for two of the three benchmarks. We are continuing to trend in the wrong direction. The current recommendations from the AzDHS is that schools consider moving to virtual learning only after two consecutive weeks of all three benchmarks in the substantial spread numbers.” Navajo County school leaders meet with Lee weekly, he said, “We will continue to meet and to provide them and their boards with information needed to make decisions on moving back to virtual only or remaining in the hybrid model that most are doing.” There is no current recommendation to close area schools, however, as Lee explained, the cases in Navajo County may impact educational facilities in the near future. As of last week, Navajo County had seen 7,756 positive COVID tests with 270 deaths. On Nov. 24, the numbers provided by Navajo County reflected an 11 case increase in just 24 hours and a positivity rate of 9.1 percent. Lee said, “We did a great job back in July to slow down the spread. We all made sacrifices to stay home when possible, wearing masks and physically distancing. We can do it again. We just need to get back to the basics, take this virus seriously and do whatever we can to keep our friends, families and neighbors safe and healthy.” Reports have come from the CDC recently that more than one vaccine is in the testing phase of being released for widespread distribution. However, Lee said, “We cannot just wait for the vaccine, we don’t know when it will be available so we have to use the tools we have to slow this down again.” Information on county numbers can be found on the county’s website at www.navajocountyaz.gov. Also on the site is a survey regarding a potential vaccine and the public’s interest in it. Lee concluded, “Please, wear a face covering, wash your hands, avoid gatherings and stay home if you are feeling ill.”
