E57: COVID-19 Roundtable Update - 1/4

Welcome to 2021 and the first Vitalyst Spark podcast of this new year. We are starting up right where we left off - with our COVID-19 Roundtable. Here is what’s to come in this episode: first, a look at where we are now and reflection as to how Arizona got here; next, some analysis of what individuals and communities are thinking and doing; and thirdly, just what the heck is going on with the slow rollout of vaccinations. It’s a conversation filled with great insights, serious frustrations, and surprising revelations that you do not want to miss.

Before we get to the conversation, know that today brought more striking COVID news for Arizona. You’ll hear us talk about having the fifth-highest population-adjusted weekly average case rate. But just hours after recording, Arizona officially vaulted to number one in the U.S., per data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Community spread is currently orders of magnitude higher than anything experienced earlier this year. Hospitals and their staffs, as you’ll hear in more detail, are at or near breaking points. And the case rate trajectory indicates that system stresses will increase over the coming weeks.

Please contribute to slowing down the spread: wash up, mask up, and shrink your circle. The more people we bump into, the more chance there is for COVID-19 to spread. It’s that simple. The capacity of our health care system to care for Arizonans is at stake. The well-being of our frontline health care workers is at stake. The lives of so many Arizonans are at stake. Do your part. Shrink your circle of contact. Be COVID smart.

You won’t find any New Year’s resolutions in this episode, but you will find Arizona realities and revelations regarding COVID-19 as of January 4, 2021.