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With move from pandemic to endemic, AZ changes how it reports COVID data [1]
['Jerod Macdonald-Evoy', 'More From Author', '- October']
Date: 2023-10
The Arizona Department of Health Services has updated its COVID-19 dashboard to remove some data and changed up its reporting on the virus to fall more in line with how the agency handles reporting other respiratory illnesses.
More than three years ago, as the state and the nation were in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency created the dashboard. It included information such as the number of cases by week, hospitalizations, cases by ZIP code and demographic data of those confirmed to have contracted the illness. Some of that information will no longer be published going forward, according to a blog post about the change by ADHS.
The new dashboard will continue to give information on the number of cases by week, demographics, deaths and hospitalization, but data by ZIP code — including both confirmed cases and vaccination figures — will no longer be made public. Data on congregate settings, such as nursing homes, with positive COVID-19 cases will also no longer be available.
“In order to allow us to continue to reflect on and learn from these efforts, some data will be converted into historical dashboards,” Dr. Eugene Livar, the assistant director for public health preparedness at ADHS, said in the blog post. “These historical dashboards will remain publicly available, but will no longer be updated and will remain as a static version.”
COVID-19 has shifted from a pandemic to an endemic illness, meaning that the virus will be regularly occurring much like the flu and other upper respiratory illnesses.
“Now that COVID-19 is a common respiratory illness, it is time to adjust our surveillance reports to align with other respiratory illnesses such as the flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV),” Livar said about the change.
Arizona has seen a total of 2.5 million cases of COVID-19 since the virus first appeared, with the highest peak in cases being in January 2022, when more than 547,000 cases were reported. Over 33,000 Arizonans have lost their lives from the virus.
According to the new data dashboard, 2023 has seen a total of 111,374 cases. September saw a 4% increase in cases from the previous month. Hospitalizations also saw an 11% increase compared to August.
The news comes as a new version of the COVID vaccine has been rolling out and work on creating a dual flu and COVID vaccine enters the early stages of testing and development.
“Vaccinations remain the best way to protect you and your family from severe COVID-19 outcomes,” Livar said. “If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to get the newly updated COVID-19 vaccine.”
Information on finding a location with the new vaccine can be found at vaccines.gov.
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[1] Url:
https://www.azmirror.com/blog/with-move-from-pandemic-to-endemic-az-changes-how-it-reports-covid-data/
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