District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta — 9 days left to fill out the 2020 Census!

“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.”

-Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Coconino County will open lobby spaces of specific buildings to the public beginning Monday, September 21 after closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With community spread of the virus at a level deemed moderate according to Arizona Department of Health Services benchmark guidelines, the County will open the below public-serving offices located in the Flagstaff area with COVID-19 precautions in place.

Other County buildings that have been physically closed will remain closed, including 110 E Cherry Ave and the Public Fiduciary/Legal Defender Building at 220 N Leroux St, and those that have already re-opened continue to be open, including the Sheriff’s Office, Courts, Facilities, and Adult Probation. Regardless of a building’s lobby status of open or closed, each department continues to provide a full array of services through alternative methods.

In all County buildings, COVID-19 safety precautions are in place, including limiting the number of people in lobbies, elevators, and offices to allow for physical distancing, hand sanitizing stations, increased cleaning frequency and face covering/mask wearing. All residents visiting County facilities will be required to follow the protocols. While the County has continued providing its services to the community throughout the pandemic, this step to expand in-person availability aims to increase accessibility to all constituents and provide them the opportunity to conduct business in their preferred manner.

Saliva-based COVID-19 testing will be available at Fort Tuthill beginning on September 8th. A few items to note for those seeking testing:

📍Children under 5 years old cannot receive saliva tests.

📍Nasopharyngeal testing will continue to be available for individuals under the required age and those who prefer the swab test.

📍Those seeking COVID-19 saliva testing are asked to abstain from food or drink for 30 minutes prior to the test.

You count. Your families count. Your neighbors count.

Coconino County COVID-19 data reporting is changing to include positive antigen tests in the confirmed/probable case category on the County’s Data Dashboard and Snapshot. This change is consistent with the updated national case definition for COVID-19 from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and recently adopted by the Arizona Department of Health Services. This change in classification of cases is a surveillance tool used to better understand the burden of disease in the community, and to align with state data dashboards.

Antigen tests, not to be confused with serologic (or antibody) tests, can detect if a person is currently infected. These point-of-care tests, also used for viral infections like influenza or bacterial infections like strep throat, play an important role in certain settings such in healthcare facilities or in situations where rapid results are necessary.

Until now, a person with a positive antigen test has only been counted in the Data Dashboard when they had a known exposure to a person with COVID-19 or exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. However, some people with positive antigen tests had not been included in the positive case count because the person was unsure if they were in contact with a known COVID-19 case and the person did not have symptoms.

When compared to the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests widely used for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, research indicates that antigen tests often are not as accurate. However, antigen tests offer results within under 1-hour and the quick results provide the ability to rapidly triage and make healthcare decisions.

The Coconino County Data Dashboard is also changing to combine confirmed and probable cases in line with ADHS reporting. The reporting changes will be reflected on the Data Dashboard and social media COVID-19 Snapshot beginning Monday, September 21. This will result in an increase in case numbers as antigen tests are included in the COVID-19 positive case counts.

Here is the information as of 09/21/2020:

The Coconino County Health and Human Services has issued a new weekly report entitled COVID-19 Coconino County Weekly Update.

The report is updated weekly and includes a COVID-19 situation summary, key takeaways, demographic and geographic information, hospitalizations and testing data related to Coconino County residents.

AZDHS just updated their COVID-19 website which now includes race and ethnicity on confirmed cases, location of confirmed cases by zip code, ages & gender of related deaths, and number of hospital beds & ICU beds available.

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