Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Health Service, talks about the latest data on Arizona coronavirus at a press conference on Thursday, June 25, 2020 in Phoenix. (AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin, Pool)
PHOENIX – Arizona’s top public health official said Friday that the state is experiencing a backlog of COVID-19 tests.
Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Public Health, said the state is seeing a backlog of coronavirus tests that can range from 7 to 10 days, depending on the laboratory.
Christ spoke to KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show to discuss the state’s accumulation of COVID-19 evidence, when schools should reopen, and why gym closings were extended.
Here is a sample of questions and answers from the interview of Christ:
What should parents look for and talk to their school districts to consider things safe?
Christ: We are going to allow local jurisdiction, school districts, and local public health departments to work together to determine whether or not they meet the benchmarks because they will get to know their communities better. As a parent of three school-age children, what I would like to know is: How does it look in my community? What does the number of cases look like in my community? And what type of population type is affected? Because that can play a different role. If it’s 20 to 44 years old, that could be different from if we are seeing an increase in children in that area. The other thing is that, as a parent, I want to know what my school’s plans are for physical distancing, to ensure that children have masks, but then have time to play outside without the masks. What kind of infection control policies are you going to implement at school?
Some daycare centers and daycare centers have been open in Arizona all this time. If those facilities are open to families, why so much concern about opening schools?
Christ: We know that schools play an important role in our children’s lives, not only for education, which is significantly important, but also the social and emotional impacts it has. Sometimes it is the safest place for children. That’s where kids get some of their most nutritious meals a day. So we really want to see children in the classroom because of a lot of public health issues. We have been working closely with our child care facilities and our preschools. They have done well and have done a great job with the social distancing and temperature controls and weapons on the planes and have made sure that the kids are kept away from each other. What we have seen in the data is that transmission is extremely low in children 10 years and younger. Therefore, transmission from child to child or transmission from child to adult is less of a concern. But as those children get older, the likelihood that they can pass it on increases.
Do you think schools will be ready to open before August 17? Should each individual family make its own decision?
Christ: I think it is a very personal decision for families. I know that some families have children or members who are high risk. Those families should think very seriously about sending a child to a group setting. For families who do not have a high risk condition or an elderly person who lives with them who need to go to work and who fear that their children have an educational gap or require some type of assistance, school may be the best option. safer place. And that’s why we really wanted to give it to local jurisdictions to determine if it was appropriate for them to be opened. I think the plan has built-in flexibility. If parents want their children at school and the data is displayed in that area, they should be able to go to school.
How long is the delay? When are cases recorded versus when they are reported?
Christ: That is what is seen as the possible backlog of orders. So, 7-10 days after people get their tests, they get the results. Some laboratories are changing it in two or three days, so it will depend on the laboratory you are in. We hope that Sonora Quest can eliminate that delay and bring that additional equipment so that as of July 31 there are no more delays. What we do is that the cases that are reported are not counted on the day they are reported. Actually, they are counted the day the patient was sampled because it was symptomatic so that it could be refilled. If you look at our epi curve or confirmed cases by day, you will see that some were reported yesterday and the day before yesterday. Therefore, it will only depend on which laboratory and when it is delivered, but somewhere between 7 and 14 days in the past.
What specifically did you see in gyms that shut them down and what metrics do you need to see to allow those companies to reopen?
Christ: We know that when people exercise, when they sing, when they breathe heavily or when they scream, that actually increases the transmissibility of COVID-19. It concentrates infectious particles and makes it travel further. So we know that gyms are high risk and are frequented by our highest demographic. We know that young people are asymptomatic. They don’t feel any symptoms for the most part, we do have some who are hospitalized, but that’s what we think the spread is. So as we continue to see positive trends in our data, we’ll continue to review what kinds of high-risk activities can open a backup. But again, we’re going to want to see a steady decrease in cases, a steady decrease in the positivity percentage, and we want to see our hospital metrics continue to drop.
What happens if a case is presented in a high-risk long-term care facility, such as a nursing home?
Christ: Public health works closely with our long-term care and assisted living. So if they receive cases, local public health departments will contact that facility and offer technical assistance. We will help with testing, such as contacts and workers around you. We are also currently working with our federal partners in our long-term care facilities to have them test machines and kits so they can perform continuous routine tests on their employees and their patients.
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