Yavapai County remains in Substantial Transmission of COVID-19/Weekly report from Yavapai County Health Dept. Attached

Yavapai County Remains in Substantial Transmission of COVID-19

Arizona Department of Health updated the community transmission dashboard on Thursday indicating the increase in transmission in Yavapai County from July 11 to July 17.  The county is now seeing about 155 cases per 100,000 – an increase from 79/100k the week prior, and an 13.6% positivity rate compared with 8.1% the week prior.  The CDC COVID Data Tracker indicates 39.5% of Yavapai County residents age 12 and older fully vaccinated.

Yavapai County reports 222 COVID-19 cases and 3 deaths since Monday.  The county has tested 127,128 residents for COVID-19 with 20,452 positive cases and 536 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Yavapai Regional Medical Center reports 35 COVID-19 patients, VVMC reports 7, and the VA has no COVID-19 patients.

With over 1,400 new cases reported in AZ overnight, how worried should vaccinated people be by this surge in COVID-19 cases?  Covid-19 vaccines protect you very well against severe disease. This is a disease that has taken the lives of over 600,000 Americans and millions of people around the world. If you get the vaccine, you know that you are very unlikely to become severely ill to the point of needing to be hospitalized or to succumb to the disease. According to federal health officials, 99.5% of deaths from Covid-19 are now among the unvaccinated. That is a real testament to the power of the vaccines.

A vaccinated person around other fully vaccinated people is probably safe and would not need precautions like masking and distancing. On the other hand, a vaccinated person who is exposed constantly to unvaccinated people, in crowded, indoor settings where no one is wearing masks, could become infected themselves. The key to stopping the pandemic is for us to reach a high enough level of immunity that the virus has nowhere else to go. Vaccination protects the individual, and it protects others around us, too.

While the vaccines remain highly effective, there’s reason for concern if this surge continues. The more that the virus is left to circulate, the more chances the pathogen has to mutate in a way that could make it more transmissible, enable it to cause more severe disease or help it evade the protection of vaccines. 

The best ways to avoid COVID-19 are to get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash your hands often, avoid crowded and poorly ventilated indoor spaces and stay at least 6 feet away from others. If you are looking to get vaccinated against COVID-19, check out:

• YRMC: https://www.yrmc.org/support-and-community/covid-19/covid-19-vaccinations
• Spectrum Healthcare:  https://www.spectrumhealthcare-group.com/vaccine/ – 877-634-7333
• Yavapai Community Health Services – 928-771-3122
• Community Health Center of Yavapai – 928-583-1000
• www.vaccine.gov

Testing is available around the county if you are experiencing symptoms or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or believe you’ve been exposed. Here is a listing testing sites:  https://www.yavapai.us/Portals/39/COVID-19/TestingSitesinYavapaiCounty.pdf