Report: Arizona Is The Least Safe State When It Comes To COVID-19
A new report shows Arizona is the least safe state when it comes to COVID-19. According to a new report from WalletHub, Arizona is first in the nation in positive testing and hospitalization rates, second in death rate and third in transmission rate. Arizona is also 42nd in vaccination rates. The report used COVID-19 transmission, positive testing, hospitalizations, death and eligible population getting vaccinated. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 being the safest conditions. Arizona was last overall with a grade of 8.20. Arizona is behind Alabama by over ten points. The safest state is Alaska with 95.43 points.
To read the full report, click here:
But as KAFF reported just 9 days ago, Gov. Ducey says that lockdowns won’t be happening in Arizona. Yet according to the current AZ Dept of Health data dashboard, Covid cases in Coconino are just barely under the 10% benchmark required for closing restaukrants, bars, nightclubs, theaters and indoor gyms while the positive test rates are well over the 10% benchmark for closures. The figures in most Arizona counties are comparable, or worse, new and more contagious variants of the virus are spreading, there isn’t nearly enough vaccine to go around, hospitals are stressed just about to the max, deaths among Arizonas continue to hover near record levels, and the governor won’t act. This is madness!
If our experience is typical, low vaccination rates in Arizona are a matter of logistics. My wife and I are eligible now under the Arizona plan but the earliest slot we can find (as of a couple days ago) was between midnight and 6:00 a.m. on February 27th in Phoenix. Our guess is that the delay is not because of availability of the vaccine as much as it is manpower for giving the shots. It would be interesting to learn more about the bottleneck.
Most places I have heard have enough people to give the shot, but the problem across the board has been supply. There hasn’t been enough to meet demand. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks that will be fixed.