COVID-19 in the News

The Phoenix area emerged as an unlikely oasis for sports in recent months because of its willingness to host youth events during the pandemic as nearby states restricted or barred them altogether. The resulting tension between these events and the COVID surge came to a head when Phoenix's city council gathered Wednesday night for a virtual meeting. With tournaments promising to bring together tens of thousands of young athletes, coaches and parents in the coming months, the council voted 7-2 to cancel all organized sports at the city's fields until virus levels in Maricopa County return to a moderate level. "It's bringing people together who wouldn't ordinarily be together. And those conditions are ripe to transmit the virus," said Joe Gerald, an associate professor of public-health policy and management at the University of Arizona who has modeled the virus trends in the state.

In a new informal survey of 700 epidemiologists by The New York Times, half said they would not change their personal behavior until at least 70 percent of the population was vaccinated. Thirty percent said they would make some changes once they were vaccinated themselves. "I won't take traveling to my extended family for granted," said Alicia Allen, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona.

Arizona has recovered better than most states from COVID-19 economic disruptions but still has a long way to go, with the pace of improvement hinging on vaccines and further federal aid. That's the view of George Hammond, director of the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona, who presented a Dec. 4 forecast on behalf of the Eller College of Management.

Reentry Task Force Director Dr. Richard Carmona said any attempt at imposing a curfew requires a careful and comprehensive approach. "Does it have the potential to be beneficial? Yes, especially in communities where you see a rise in cases, and if that rise is associated with social activities at night, it is a way to deal with it," Carmona said. "The challenge is, how do you monitor it, and how do you enforce it?"

University of Arizona professors Bonnie LaFleur and Katherine Ellingson write that the the current state of availability and accuracy of rapid COVID-19 tests greatly limit how effective they are at slowing the spread of the virus in communities.

Despite warnings, millions traveled and gathered for Thanksgiving. As officials brace for the surge ahead, they say a new approach is needed. "Testing itself isn't a bad thing, but people started using it to justify doing whatever they wanted," said Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona. "And people who really needed tests couldn't get them because sites were overwhelmed."

University of Arizona play-by-play announcer Brian Jeffries is interviewed about his experiences announcing football games amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Jeffries is announcing games by watching monitors inside Director of Athletics Dave Heeke's suite at Arizona Stadium.

Cities and universities across the world are looking into using wastewater-based epidemiology to track the spread of COVID-19. Ian Pepper, director of the WEST Center and a BIO5 Institute member, is leading a study that uses municipal wastewater to monitor the incidence of the virus in communities across the United States. In August, the University of Arizona used this process to identify and successfully quarantine two asymptomatic students during the first week of classes.

Public health officials have been pleading with Americans to stay home this year for Thanksgiving. And, despite busy airports this past weekend, most people plan to follow their advice, according to a huge survey asking Americans about their holiday plans. Early in the pandemic, there was a minimal partisan split on public health advice, said Samara Klar, an associate professor of political science at the University of Arizona. But she noted that diverging messages from political leaders have been mirrored by splits in support for public health measures and self-reported mask wearing. Thanksgiving plans seem to fit that broader pattern.

University of Arizona professors Charles Gerba and Robert Glennon write that wastewater-based epidemiology, which tests raw sewage, has an important role to play in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Studies have shown that testing wastewater offers an early warning signal that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is present in a community.