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2021-03-17
Finished my BA, between myself and two pals we got a cap, gown and sashes so we staged our own graduation ceremony complete with photos (socially distanced of course)
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2021-03-17
Our pandemic baby
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2021-03-16
PPE vending machines at the PHX airport
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2020-08-06
One group that is often overlooked when discussing faith and religion is paganism. Partly, this is because, as the article references, paganism is not uniformly defined like other religious groups and faiths. As a result, it is much more difficult to understand and see how various pagans are reacting to the pandemic. Nonetheless, this article briefly surveys various sects of paganism in many different countries. One common element for many who consider themselves pagan has been celebrating and practicing privately, while also meeting virtually.
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2020-03-13
Religions, having been around for millennia, have a unique history of dealing with various pandemics. This article, written by a Lutheran Christian, details the message of Christianity that has been preserved through the centuries. Specifically, according to Stone, Christians have always taught, even if not displayed, that one is to love and care for their neighbor, even to their own detriment. It is not reckless care, where someone may go care for their neighbor and then spread the virus; rather, it is being cautious, but also continuing to love for one’s neighbor.
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2020-05-11
Many people wonder about the benefits religion may or may not have during times of crisis. Is religion a crutch; or, is religion a legitimate way for people re-orient their lives and perspectives during times of crisis? This article from the American Psychology Association answers these questions. Depending on the person and their perspective of their religion, religion can be either positive or negative, perhaps even both at different times. As a result, the answer to the question is not a simple yes or no. However, even for the agnostic or the atheist, as the article describes, there are many religious and spiritual rituals one can engage with (e.g. yoga, meditation, etc.).
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2020-06-27
For my contribution, I would like to highlight one of the most publicized events that occurred during the first few months of COVID-19, the George Floyd killing and my actions to bring unity after. This incident put a spotlight on social issues that have been long swept under the rug, racism, racial violence and police brutality. During this time, members of the Air Force spoke out and initiated conversations about race, and racial disparities within our ranks.
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2021-04-16
This was just funny, imagine seeing something from your window calling the authorities in fear only for it to be a pastry.
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2021-04-16
Junji Ito, a Japanese master of Horror, reacts to online artists' work on an online interview being his usually quirky, few-worded self. Even midst a pandemic, all arts, even horror, are deeply loved, beloved, and shared as a facet of our culture.
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2021-02-28
#JOTPYLesson For me, the pandemic has forced me to slow down a bit, and to take more time for myself than I'm used to - when the pandemic began I felt incredibly guilty for taking more than 30 mins for myself to relax with. Now, I'm kind of forced to acknowledge that I deserve to rest or even just have fun every now and then, that I have value when I'm not working. @lordfrogman @amjugan @dankzestykale @kategillis @father_keaton
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2021-02-28
As a result of the pandemic I’ve learned about how important my own mental health is and how to better reflect on my own mental state. I don’t think without the pandemic I would have done the necessary reflection that I’ve done over the past year. @jordyn.kw @kazandrakatzorke @__eringuin__ @ellie_bee99 @zanee1
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2021-02-26
A lesson I have learned as a result of the pandemic is to always wash your hands, and be thankful for what you have. Going through a pandemic has shown me to not take life for granted. I have also learned different ways to work and communicate with others in a safe way. @wynneisnotcool @elysezamora @annarumley27 @zane_zamora
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2021-02-24
#JOTPYLesson
I learned how important social interaction is to people. Not just from close friends and family, but also from the daily hellos from acquaintances and strangers. There’s a comfort, I think, in knowing that the world keeps moving as it does everyday. Physical quality time with others feels like they were taken for granted now that we’ve lost that ease and access.
@aw.susujahe @banbanlys @superaria18 @soleeriku @aribarzola_
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2021-02-24
I learned how to really enjoy being at home and not have to be on the run all the time #jotpylesson @devuku @ravdrav257 @randomquips @kumarshivani285 @bhushan_bhalla7
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2021-02-24
I've learned different ways of continuing communication with my friends and family besides seeing them in person, since all of us are staying home and don't really get a chance to see them face to face in the past year. It's really made me appreciate the friendships that have become strengthened despite quarantine. #JOTPYLesson @a.mlau @how2henry101 @ashes.of.dreams @on_a_kruse @desinistre
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2021-04-13
The movie theater industry has been hit hard by COVID-19. Theater chains like AMC have the ability to file for bankruptcy and scale back locations. For mom-and-pop movie theaters, however, there is no bankruptcy, so many face permanent closure.
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2020-04-13
I forgot my vaccine card to my second Moderna dose appointment at ASU. It's silly of me to forget about something so major. They asked if I had a photo of it and I thought they wanted it to prove I had received one. I did have a photo but I had covered the information on it for a picture for my story on instagram. They just waived me along and gave me my second dose anyway, they came to me about 5 minutes after my shot with a new vaccine card. Now I have two different vaccine cards, maybe one will be my future "travel id".
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2021-04-15
Disposable mask found along the north bank of rio salado, near the 202 loop and Priest.
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2003
Indigenous Rights Radio has posted interviews with Indigenous Peoples around the globe discussing COVID-19.
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2021-04-15
I know the vaccine isn’t a golden ticket. I know you can still contract COVID. I know we don’t really know yet if a vaccinated person can spread it (which is why my kids are still on Distance Learning). And I know there are at least 30 countries where not one person has been vaccinated. I do know all of this. However, somewhere in my subconscious I am relaxing. I have not had a boba from 85 Degrees in 13 months and though my husband did bring home a Starbucks for me recently, that was pretty much it for the past year. Today, I somehow ended up with both. During our lunch walk, my bestie asked if I wanted to walk to Starbucks. We haven’t done that in over a year and I have to be honest, it felt amazing. Even though while we walked there, we said snarky stuff like “remember how we’re in a worldwide pandemic?” it still felt sort of normal. Then, my husband decided to pick up bread on the way home from
85 Degree and brought me a grapefruit tea with lychee jelly. My tastebuds are so happy and I’m barely asking myself if the person who made the drink has COVID. So I must be relaxing. Then again, I sprayed my boba cup with Lysol before touching it and dumped my Starbucks into a mug and reheated it before I drank it, soooo maybe not.
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2021-04-14
My daughter has left our neighborhood less than five times in the past 13 months. I am not exaggerating. Now that the positivity rate in our area is 1.5%, we cautiously allowed my daughter to accompany me on a one mile run. You would have thought I’d taken her to Disney World. She was happier and more relaxed than she’s been in months. But she’s not a runner. She’s a competitive gymnast who hasn’t set foot in a gym in 13 months. She’s trained virtually with a gym in Northern CA and has worked out every single day. But we know it’s not the same. We also know that it’s time to create the team for the next season. It was time to contact her gym. We can keep promising she’s coming back but at what point is it just empty words? After a lot of prayer and internal debate, we texted her coach and said it’s time for her to come back. As you can see, she was initially scared at the idea, but that was quickly replaced by excitement when she found out she is really going back. But I have a pit in my stomach. Is it safe? Her coach isn’t vaccinated. Will my daughter be one of the children who contract it and have dire consequences? Or will her brother if she brings it home? How long can you keep a kid in a bubble? She already missed an entire season. Her mental health is so important, we know going back is going to be so amazing for that. But I am still so worried about the physical. One thing that this year has shown me is that I am an adult. I mean, obviously, I’ve been an adult for 22 years. But this year - protecting not only the safety of my children but my over 65 mom and in-laws. Advocating for the health of my students over politics. It’s like the pandemic has forced me to see that I can’t look to anyone to make adult decisions, it’s me. I’m the decision maker and these decisions can be life and death. I’m the adult. COVID has stripped that security we all had (probably foolishly). I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe again the way I did before this all began. So fingers crossed that my daughter’s journey back into competitive gymnastics is one that we can make safely.
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2021-04-15
I have anxiety. It’s not uncommon, and I have coping mechanisms. One of the things that helps me not fixate on things out of my control is being active.
So I run. And for the past six years, I have been very committed to “barre,” which is similar to Pilates. My barre studio is my respite from the world, one hour to focus just on myself and my muscles. And the supportive community is unlike any other I have been a part of (I’ve done boot camps,
kickboxing, etc. and have never found anything like this.) Since exercise is crucial to my mental health, when the pandemic began, I knew I could not stop working out. Especially with a household of five suddenly being at home together 24 hours a day! I was extremely fortunate that my barre studio immediately transitioned online. In fact, all throughout this pandemic, I have held them up as my example of the exact right way to deal with this situation. They made a digital library, offered multiple daily live classes over Zoom, reopened as a hybrid. My barre classes have been the constant throughout this pandemic,
especially before I returned to work in person. Up until a few weeks ago, my most consistent live interaction with adult humans not living in this house were my barre instructors and the other women in the classes. So when I opened my email and saw this message, it hit me like a ton of bricks. They couldn’t survive COVID-19. It makes sense - they had two studios before COVID and rent is not cheap in Orange County. I am, of course selfishly sad - where will I find a reasonably priced, low impact but high intensity exercise studio that is five minutes from both my daughter’s gym and our church? But my real sadness is for the small business owner who opened this studio eight years ago. She is truly passionate about physical and mental health and is probably one of the most positive people I have ever met. And in a way that doesn’t annoy you, which honestly is a gift. As people get excited about businesses reopening, it makes me reflect on how many more have had to close their doors permanently.
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2021-04-15
A photo of the garden I have started - the pandemic has given me more time at home to tend to something like a garden.
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2021-03-06
Warm weather = reading outside and getting fresh air! Not being cooped up in the apartment is wonderful for my mental health and to finally get some sun.
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2021-03-06
It's finally warm enough to sit outside and do homework, which really helps me not be cooped up in the house all day and night. It's not much, but just being outside for a few hours really helps my mental health.
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2021-03-22T08:10
An Anti-Trans sports bill preventing transgender women from participating in women's sports in high school. Whether or not you agree with the prospect of transgender women in female sports, this line from the bill seems to be overstepping the boundaries as the possible requirement for high school sports if the student in question seems "suspicious" about what gender they were assigned at birth:
"The health care provider may verify the student's biological sex as part of a routine sports physical examination by relying only on one or more of the following:
1. The student's reproductive anatomy;
2. The student's genetic makeup; or
3. The student's normal endogenously produced testosterone levels." (Lines 59 to 66 of the Bill)
The fact that a minor, a child may need an examination of their genitals or an invasive test of their endocrine functions or their karyotype (chromosomal makeup) is a horrible thought as it would cause many other sects of people who aren't even transgender, to begin with, to be harmed by this bill. People who are either Intersex (about a 2 in 100 occurrences) or have high testosterone (which cannot be controlled by anyone naturally) could be barred from sports out of fear for the imbalance of sports would just overall cause school sports to be more stress and trouble for students and faculty alike. Plus that is not even to mention the moderate amount of Intersex people who don't even know they are intersex due to phenotypical biological sex not always equating to the genotypical karyotypes people possess and the high amount of genital mutilation of Intersex children at birth, it would cause much more than what people would want from this sort of bill and cause a lot more harm than good.
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2021-04-06
I got my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine late on the evening of Tuesday, April 6. While the process at the vaccination site at State Farm Stadium went smoothly enough, it took a lot longer. The drive from South Tempe is about 35 minutes, but there was an accident on Interstate 10, so we had to take a detour that lengthened the trip. I had an appointment for 9:21 PM, but there was a much longer line this time. By the time I got my shot and we left, it was about 10:35 PM. I felt pretty tired the next day. Nonetheless, I feel very relived to be fully vaccinated, and I am looking forward to things I will be able to do on April 20, when the vaccine will have had a full two weeks to take effect.
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2021-04-15
Congratulations to the 3 nonbinary people in Kentucky who were vaccinated, however, I believe there could be more as some people might be afraid to select that box or don't know what to select as their gender as many queer people like I do when it comes to medical records as there is a small fear of the worry of facing discrimination in the healthcare field.
This graph is both funny and a sign of a sad current present for queer and gender non-conforming people.
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2021-04
Everyone is obsessing over this one specific golden snub-nosed monkey on Twitter. Why? Don't ask some things are just better left to be enjoyed than questioned. I definitely have felt a million times better after discovering this specific species of monkey (it is very wonderful and charismatic in a strange way).
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2021-04-15
The end of the semester is near, with one week left in my college semester and only a few weeks left at the high school where I work. As my first year as a Ph.D. season comes to a close, I have to say I am actually going to miss some parts of spending the year going to class via Zoom. It’s been nice to not have to worry about superficial things like my outfit and practical things like making sure my water bottle is full and that I have had lunch before class.
Zoom is exhausting. Being aware that my classmates can see me, and I can see everyone else all at once. Sure, I can hide self-view, but in a way that makes me more nervous because I won’t be able to see if my face looks silly. I spend a lot of time holding my face in a specific way to avoid “resting bitch face” that I often end my 2.5-hour classes with headaches and jaw tension. I guess I won’t miss that.
Monitoring chat and live conversations is a nightmare. So much so that I don’t pay much heed to the chat at all. I won’t miss that.
Not having to find parking on campus though... that has been super nice. Not having to account for traffic, being able to schedule appointments more easily. It’s also allowed my professors to be in other states for meetings when necessary or step out for other Zoom meetings when they have to for a few minutes and then return. I guess it is what we have been saying for the better part of nine months now, that we have always had the ability to be flexible, just no willpower, and the pandemic has shown us that we really can be flexible. Selfishly it makes it easier to work and go to school as well. I haven’t missed a single class all year. It made being a TA easier too, since I didn’t have to go to campus for those classes either, which would have further complicated a work schedule.
I am ready to go back to school, after three online master’s degree, the perpetual student in me was so excited to go back to campus for classes and be a part of a college campus again and I didn’t get that because of the pandemic, but I think in some ways it made the transition easier for me. It made it easier for me to feel like I could do it all at once.
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2021-04-15
I have been vaccinated for a month now and I know that I have a research trip coming up to New Orleans, but I am still wary. We talk at work all the time about how we are vaccinated and wear masks everywhere, but we still feel like it’s too soon to get back to that much of real life. We still know people who are hospitalized and dying of COVID, but without the vaccine, so if we have it we should be fine? I certainly plan to double mask up on my flight to New Orleans with a box of KN-95s that I purchased on Amazon a bit ago. I carry my vaccine card everywhere; I hope the vaccine passport becomes a thing. In the same way that I don’t like to shop at places that are not requiring masks or offer medical exemptions, I would rather go places that require the vaccine. Certainly, other countries will require it upon entry and that might very well make them safer than the US, which of course I don’t expect to require anything under the guise of freedom or some nonsense. “oh no, we can’t make people get the vaccine to travel!” without realizing that their kid needs MMR, Polio, DTAP, and the chicken pox vaccine to go to school. All I am saying is that if you made a Venn Diagram of the people who think its okay for a bakery in Colorado to refuse baking a cake for a gay wedding and the people who don’t think a private business can require a mask is almost a perfect circle.
But maybe this is all psychological? Maybe I am afraid that being out in the world, despite being “safe” gives the wrong impression. That unless I wear a mask that has “Fully Vaccinated” printed on it and hang my vaccine card from my neck, people will look at me, out and about, and assume that I don’t believe in the pandemic or staying home and staying safe? Am I more afraid of people who are also out, but safely, thinking I am not safe, or am I afraid that people who think the pandemic is a hoax will think that I am one of them?
As much as the mask lets me hide my facial expressions, it doesn’t hide enough that I am not still worried about what others think of me.
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2021-04-15
Similar to my GameStop stories on here, I will try to narrate the DogeCoin experience as it goes on during the pandemic.
DogeCoin, a crypto currency modeled after the popular internet meme involving a shiba inu dog in a funny pose, has been soaring the past week or so. Doge first entered my radar probably four-five years ago, when the original meme was popular. Supporters of the coin, which was not very valuable, used it to donate clean water to a village in Africa, as well as paying to sponsor a Nascar team with it for a short time. It largely fell off the radar, but somehow during the early part of this year it returned. Spurred on by meme-stock movements like GameStop, Doge rallied and returned to being worth around 4-5 cents per Doge, much higher than previously. It dipped initially after reaching 8 cents and the people with tens of millions of it selling for a hefty profit. Now, it is to above 12 cents, far more than it has ever been worth. Dogecoin is accepted by more and more websites every day, and famous personalities like Elon Musk and Snoop Dog have rallied behind it. Supporters have even taken out ads in New York's Times Square to promote the currency.
While I have long had doubts about crypto currency, I didn't want to miss out on this like I did Bitcoin. I knew about Bitcoin when it was worth less than a dollar, and now it is worth over $60,000 per coin. Doge will never reach that level, but even my meager amount has nearly doubled in the past week.
The wave of amateur investors spurred on by the pandemic has produced odd results, and perhaps the weirdest one is the coin based on a stale internet meme.
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2021-04-15
Most institutions seem to be assuming at this point that the pandemic is wrapping up, and by Fall of this year we will be able to go back to in-person classes. I am unsure how I feel about that. On one hand, I am happy for the people who want in-person classes, especially those undergrads looking for the college experience. On the other, I have actually liked my online classes. I have no need to leave my apartment, and I only need to properly dress half my body for class. Now, for the first time, I will have to make my way to class in person at this university. I don't know yet how I will make that happen, as I have no car and it is around a 30 minute walk. The walk is actually no problem, I would walk most of the NDSU campus every day during undergrad. The problem will be the heat, as Arizona will get above 100 degrees nearly every day at the beginning of the semester. So for purely selfish reasons, I would actually prefer to stay online. As people with office jobs and such also go back, we will see if there is a push in society for online job options, or if things will truly go back to normal.
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2021-04-15
For the past few months, vaccines for Covid have been rolling out to Americans despite some setbacks. As of right now, a huge chunk of America has or is in the process of getting vaccinated, hopefully putting an end to this once and for all. Unfortunately, other countries without the same industrial capacity to produce the vaccine have been struggling. My sister, who lives in the Netherlands, won't be able to get a vaccine until May, and even that is tenuous at best. It is even worse for many countries in the global South, which will have to wait until well after richer capitalist countries finish vaccinating their people. The dirty secret here is that each company who developed the vaccine is not sharing for free how they made this life-saving material, forcing almost the entire world to be beholden to companies like Moderna.
There will not be an equitable distribution of the vaccine, that is clear already. When countries like the US and the Netherlands do finish vaccinations by at least the end of this year, the world will still be forced to reckon with Covid still spreading in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and potentially back to the global North. If the world wants to truly deal with Covid and any future disease of a similar nature, it needs to figure out how to get vaccines quickly without a profit motive, something that is nearly impossible within a capitalist structure.
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2021-04-15
As time has gone on, video games have continued to be my primary outlet for entertainment. The one that has captured my attention the most ever since GameStop paid for my new computer is Total War: Warhammer 2, or TWW2 going forward.
TWW2 is set in the venerable Warhammer Fantasy universe, first created in 1983 as a way for the British company Games Workshop to independently sell Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, has evolved into a vast setting including the original tabletop strategy game, over a hundred books, and various video game tie ins. Perhaps the most successful of the tie-ins is the Total War: Warhammer games, developed and published by Creative Assembly out of their own historical Total War franchise. These games are divided into two parts. First is the turn-based world map, where you can see beautifully rendered fantasy landscapes in ways fans of the setting never could until now. In this mode you do diplomacy, order around armies, and develop cities. The second part is the real time battles, which the included screenshot is taken from. In this you zoom down to see your armies directly, and command them in battle using strategy to gain the upperhand.
This screenshot is of my current campaign, where I am playing the High Elves of Ulthuan. Warhammer and its science-fantasy counterpart Warhammer 40,000 are renowned for their 'grimdark' setting (a genre name that is taken verbatim from the opening scrawl of every WH40k book), so while the High Elves are definitely considered good guys by the broader narrative, they are still pretty mean and arrogant by ours.
While I defend the shores of the magical island paradise of Ulthuan from invasion by the evil cousins of the High Elves, the Dark Elves, I am in real life distracted from the fact that I am stuck in my apartment because of the pandemic. This game allows me to both play by myself for entertainment, but also to share my stories with friends playing their own games. We are all a bunch of nerds, so segueing into in-depth discussions of Warhammer lore is also a good way to pass the time.
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2021-04-15
A continuation of my other two posts about the GameStop stock short squeeze. As time has gone on, GameStop's stock seems has remained volatile. In the past few weeks it has dropped slightly, but nowhere near where professional analysts (who may have a stake in it going down) have wanted it to be. GameStop has changed their internal structure, paid off over $200,000,000 in debt with cash, and all things are pointing up for them.
However, the most interesting part of these few weeks as far as the pandemic is concerned is the internal dissent within GameStop communities on Reddit. This frenzy over the stock began on the subreddit WallStreetBets, but the return of old moderators to cash in on the moment caused an exodus to a new subreddit, simply called GME. Like WSB before it, this new subreddit was abandoned due to poor moderation, moving now to SuperStonks. There it remains to this day, however the active posters on these subs are extremely paranoid about hedge fund "shills" coming to spread uncertainty.
The pandemic, from its very beginning, spawned a new type of investor. Tesla's skyrocketing stock price at the beginning almost one year ago is what made people on WallStreetBets rich, and many people who have previously never invested before (me included) have jumped onto the bandwagon to get some money for ourselves. Many of these new investors are now learning for the first time that the SEC is not necessarily out to protect them, and that hedge fund billionaires will not necessarily play by the rules. It remains to be seen the big takeaway from this revelation for most people, once the initial paranoia is past. Some people I have seen have developed a strong sense of class consciousness, seeing this as an attack on the little guy by billionaires who became exponentially more wealthy from such trickery during the pandemic. Others accept it as the way things are. It is certainly a historical oddity that the pandemic has triggered mass participation in the capitalist stock market, and the result may be a growing number of young opponents seeing for themselves the rigged system.
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2021-04-15
At least 5,800 people who were vaccinated have contracted COVID-19. Of the 5,800, 400 were hospitalized and 74 died. Since the vaccines are only 90% effective, such infections were expected. The use of the J&J vaccines has been suspended until research into a rare blood-clotting side-effect is complete.
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2021-04-14
Exhibit items
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2021-04-14
It's been over a year since my daughter has gone to a birthday party. She got invited to one at an indoor kid's place and I had plans on taking her. She's gone to school online and only had playdates with one child ever since the pandemic began. She is not more likely to catch the virus than any other child, but, if she were to contract it, her symptoms would likely be severe and it would be very difficult for her to recover from it. My family has been very worried and take tons of precautions to protect her. We got an invitation to a private 2 hour party at an indoor amusement facility for kids. I got a text two hours before the party was set to begin saying that the party was cancelled because the family had just been notified by the school that there was an exposure to COVID-19 in the birthday boy's classroom. I am so glad the family was notified before the start of the party, but it just really hit me how dangerous it is to go to a simple kid birthday party. I immediately began to beat myself up... I had a thousand "what-ifs" go through my mind. I don't know when we will be able to go to indoor play facilities and I don't know when we will get to go to another birthday party. It's still just too scary and risky.
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2020-11-06
Traditional celebrations of Día de los Muertos include family and communities gathering to celebrate their loved ones that have passed on. To pivot with the pandemic experiences, SPARC Art hosted a livestream event and virtual ofrenda.
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2021-01-16
Author James Glenn writes, "From the New Negro Movement to the Black Power and Black Arts Movement to the Black Lives Matter Movement of today, public art created by black artists has served as communal visions of history, heritage, and hope. While it is important to highlight the work of contemporary black artists using their talents to push forward the antiracist demands of the Black Lives Matter Movement. it is imperative to understand that the current work of black artists is a continuation of the traditions black muralists initiated during the early to mid-twentieth century." This blog post explores the Black Public Art Tradition in three parts and includes an overview of Black Public Art during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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2020-06-25
This video by SPARC Art shows a variety of social justice-themed street art in the United States.
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2021-04-11
New York teen tags the streets in "response to multiple stressors. Quarantining boredom. Family problems. Feeling stuck since graduating high school and not yet finding a job or college that fit."
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2020
This is an archive project created by Dr. Heather Shirey and the Urban Art Mapping Research Project (with Dr. Todd Lawrence and Dr. Paul Lorah), University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
"MAPPING COVID-19 STREET ART: Artists and writers producing work in the streets – including tags, graffiti, murals, stickers, and other installations on walls, pavement, and signs – are in a unique position to respond quickly and effectively in a moment of crisis. Street art’s ephemeral nature serves to reveal very immediate and sometimes fleeting responses, often in a manner that can be raw and direct. At the same time, in the context of a crisis, street art also has the potential to transform urban space and foster a sustained political dialogue, reaching a wide audience, particularly when museums and galleries are shuttered. For all of these reasons, it is not surprising to see an explosion of street art around the world created in response to the Covid-19 global pandemic, even as our movement in public spaces is limited due to public health concerns."
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2021-04-14
By: Valerie Cavazos - Posted at 12:50 AM, Apr 14, 2021 and last updated 12:51 AM, Apr 14, 2021
TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County is now a step closer to FEMA setting up vaccination PODS and bringing in about a quarter million doses.
The state first rejected FEMA's offer to run the PODS, criticizing Pima County on how it's operating its current vaccine locations.
The state has now officially given the county the green light to allow the FEMA PODS, but with a long list of stipulations.
"I don't think it's anything that prevents us from moving forward," said Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz.
He says the stipulations include "how the state is not involved in any way, the state registration system cannot be utilized, the county has to cover any and all costs, any moment the state can decide without cause and without notice that the agreement is null and void," he said.
The state can also audit the funds used to create, implement, operate, and dismantle the site.
Heinz told KGUN9 the county received the 4-page proposed Intergovernmental Agreement Tuesday afternoon.
"I'm pleased that we're seeing progress, because now the county can now go over this the next 24 hours or so," Heinz said, "And hopefully, very likely, agree to these conditions which are largely ones we were expecting."
Administrator Chuck Huckelberry wrote in a memo, "We are in the process of reviewing these requirements to determine their reasonableness and/or ability to comply."
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2021-04-14
Coronavirus in Arizona with Emphasis on local Pima County data:
By: KGUN 9 On Your Side - Posted at 11:36 AM, Mar 21, 2020 and last updated 9:03 AM, Apr 14, 2021
TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Editor's note: This article was first published on March 21, 2020. It is updated daily and refreshed with the latest updates and cases throughout Arizona.
Arizona Public Health officials are tracking the spread of coronavirus throughout the state. Here are the latest numbers provided by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Last updated on April 14, 2021
FULL SECTION: CORONAVIRUS IN ARIZONA
Vaccinations in Arizona:
New doses reported today: 46,744
Total doses administered: 4,213,938
Total number of people who have received at least 1 dose: 2,611,983
Total number of people who have received 2 doses: 1,745,928
Percent of population vaccinated: 36.3%
Vaccinations in Pima County:
New doses reported today: 9,029
Total doses administered: 578,853
Total number of people who have received at least 1 dose: 363,431
Total number of people who have received 2 doses: 242,638
Percent of population vaccinated: 34.8%
Cases and Deaths through 04/14/2021:
Number of deaths: 17,109
Number of cases: 851,265
New cases: 419
New deaths: 4
Total number of tests reported: 8,835,798 (Diagnostic and Serology)
New tests reported: 17,381
Reported cases of COVID-19 by county:
Maricopa: 529,471
Pima: 113,903
Pinal: 50,417
Navajo: 16,018
Coconino: 17,398
Yavapai: 18,642
Cochise: 11,769
Graham: 5,520
Santa Cruz: 7,882
Yuma: 36,943
Apache: 11,256
Mohave: 22,353
La Paz: 2,450
Gila: 6,855
Greenlee: 568
Breakdown of cases in Pima County:
Total cases: 113,903
Deaths: 2,372
New cases: 81
New deaths: -1
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2021-04-14
Despite very grim months through the last year's COVID-19 pandemic in the Navajo Nation, the Associated Press reported continuing indications of success for the Navajo people and their rural communities:
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported two new confirmed COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the third consecutive day.
The latest numbers brought the pandemic totals on the tribe’s reservation to 30,269 cases and 1,262 known deaths. Tribal officials had ordered a lockdown last weekend over fears that a new variant could drive another deadly surge. The Stay-At-Home order required all Navajo Nation residents to refrain from unnecessary travel to help limit the spread of the virus, including a new and more contagious strain.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez recently announced the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 B.1.429 variant on the reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
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2021-03-05
"By Christopher Brito, March 5, 2021, CBSnews.com
While a majority of states and cities are still vaccinating higher priority groups of people, one county in Arizona is now allowing any resident over the age of 18 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Gila County, which is located east of Phoenix, entered Phase 2 of their vaccine prioritization late last month, opening up eligibility to the general population.
Part of the the decision to open vaccine eligibility is because Gila County has one of the lowest percentages of COVID-19 vaccine doses used in Arizona. Michael O'Driscoll, director of Public Health and Emergency Management for the county, told CBS affiliate KPHO-TV that they received permission from the state last week to offer the vaccine in a drive-thru clinic last weekend.
"Prior to that, we were struggling to find enough people to make appointments to that, so the state gave me permission to offer it to any resident 18 and older," he said.
About 56,000 people reside in the county. According to the Arizona's Department of Health Services, more than 13,000 people – or almost one fourth of residents – have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"We did a survey before to get a sense of how many people in Gila County would consider getting the vaccine, and our survey came back about 50-60% of the residents would choose to get the vaccine if available," O'Driscoll said.
Based on the data, over 5,600 people under the age of 65 have received the vaccine, including 73 people under the age of 20.
One of the younger recipients, 18-year-old Jacob Jost, told KPHO-TV that he was "excited" to get the shot.
"I have a little nephew, a little baby, so having the vaccine puts a peace of mind for that," Jost said.
First published on March 5, 2021 / 12:13 PM
© 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Christopher Brito is a social media producer and trending writer for CBS News, focusing on sports and stories that involve issues of race and culture.
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2021-03-22
This copyright-free image of a public-facing government webpage displays the COVID-19 protocols in place at Apache County (AZ) library locations after Governor Doug Ducey ordered local governments to phase out public health mandates on March 22, 2021. Unlike urban areas within the state, rural Apache County in northeastern Arizona no longer required mask use inside private or government (public) buildings and facilities.
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2021-04-13
Over the last year, Arizona has seen the cancellation of major events due to COVID-19. These cancellations have had a major impact on business and tax revenue. The entertainment, hospitality, and food business have been hit the hardest.
