December appears to have brought a new wave of COVID-19 to Arizona, with at least 4,000-6,000, sometimes even more, fresh cases being reported every day! However, spikes have been more severe on other days. Here’s a quick look at some December days when sharp spikes were reported in fresh COVID cases:

December 1 – 10,332

December 12 – 8,076

December 14 – 11,795

December 21 – 7,748

Death toll crossed 7,000 on December 9, and as of December 22, 2020, at least 8,000 people have died due to COVID-19. Well over 400,000 people have contracted the disease in the state since the beginning of the pandemic.

Three counties: Yavapai, Apache and Navajo were said to be reporting a substantial spread. Additionally, as of December 12, Maricopa county recorded more than 250,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. On Monday, frontline workers in Yuma and other rural counties started receiving the Moderna vaccine.

More than 101,000 cases were confirmed in November, up from June’s 80,050 and July’s tally of 79,965.  

Meanwhile, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has flagged a new variant of the Coronavirus that appears to have emerged in the UK.

The CDC released a statement saying, “A new variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 that contains a series of mutations has been described in the United Kingdom (UK) and become highly prevalent in London and southeast England. Based on these mutations, this variant strain has been predicted to potentially be more rapidly transmissible than other circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2.” The statement added, “At this time, there is no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness or increased risk of death. Information regarding the virologic, epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics of the variant are rapidly emerging. CDC, in collaboration with other public health agencies, is monitoring the situation closely.”

* Feature Image by Wing Chi Poon via Wikimedia Commons.