New COVID-19 case counts in the Verde Valley continue to reach new heights, with 393 in the week of Wednesday, Nov. 18 through Wednesday, Nov. 25. This one-week increase is higher than the total cases in the Verde Valley from March through July, including the previous spike in cases that occurred in June.
Cottonwood and Camp Verde have been leading the pack, with 157 and 86 new cases respectively in the seven days leading up to Wednesday, while Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek have had 56 and 14 respectively. Clarkdale, Rimrock and Cornville had 29, 15 and 10 respectively. Jerome had 2.
Public health officials urge people to plan accordingly for the Thanksgiving holiday, recommending against travel to visit family or friends when possible.
“Obviously the first recommendation is always avoid it. [Celebrating] with your immediate family should be all you’re really doing,” said Josh Tinkle, chief administrative officer for Flagstaff Medical Center, during a media briefing held by Northern Arizona Healthcare. “If you have to or believe you have to, space out, and limit it to less than 10 individuals.”
Experts are nevertheless realistic in their expectations, knowing that people will want to see their loved ones, especially after so many months in lockdown.
“It is recommended that people try to ‘isolate’ as much as possible before making a trip to lessen the likelihood of contracting COVID before traveling,” Yavapai County Community Health Services Public Information Officer Terri Farneti wrote in an email. “It is also recommended to get a flu shot. Getting tested tells you your status the day you get the test. It’s important to know the next day or the day after you may have a different situation. [You] can’t use a test on one day to guarantee on another day you’re going to be negative.”
For those trying to get tested in advance of the holidays, Farneti warns that testing facilities have become overwhelmed, making it necessary to plan ahead in order to get test results in time.
“If people are traveling to visit with family, they may get tested to ensure they would not spread it within their families,” she said. “Spectrum Healthcare reports that the demand in Yavapai County for COVID-19 testing is at an all-time high. Spectrum has performed 2,132 rapid tests county-wide in the last four weeks. At this time, due to an increased demand for testing across the state [and nationally], their rapid testing supplies are limited. Commercial labs are seeing an increased volume of COVID-19 tests as well. This is causing results at commercial labs to take between two to four days.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a list of recommendations for a safer Thanksgiving, in addition to limiting travel and holding smaller gatherings. Outdoor meals when possible are recommended — the current forecast for Thanksgiving day in the area includes highs in the low 60s — or opening windows and doors to the extent possible.
“Avoid going in and out of the areas where food is being prepared or handled, such as in the kitchen,” the CDC wrote on its website. “Wear a mask and safely store your mask while eating and drinking.”
“Careful consideration to who is there — if you have elderly [relatives], we know they’re at high risk for hospitalizations and complications from COVID-19,” NAH Chief Quality Officer John Mougin said on the media briefing. “So again, avoidance, using virtual is maybe something that can be implemented as well. A lot of the recommendations are the same as what we do every day. It’s the distancing, masking, hand-washing, sterilization of high-touch areas. All those things can help to reduce the risk.”
