Public health experts continue to warn that hospitals may become overwhelmed in the coming weeks as the latest spike in cases leads to more hospitalizations – a situation reminiscent of the last statewide spike in cases over the summer. "If we don't do something to change the pace of this outbreak, we will again overburden our hospitals. It's coming," said Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor with the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

A health expert at the University of Arizona warns COVID-19 conditions in Arizona have the state entering a 'crisis.' In his weekly COVID-19 report, Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona writes: "Even though the same number of Covid-19 cases is yielding fewer hospitalizations and deaths today than in June, Arizona is still poised to overwhelm its hospital capacity unless action is quickly taken."

Arizona has reported more than 12,000 new positive cases of COVID-19 this week. Health experts are continuing to urge caution as the spread of the virus accelerates through the state. In a COVID-19 forecast this week, Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor at University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, wrote the state could be setting records for new cases by the end of this month.

Spine surgeon Ali Baaj, MD, is named chief of spine surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix.

As new COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the state, the Paradise Valley Unified School District has decided to return to virtual learning-only starting Nov. 23. "Everything is moving in the wrong direction. The holidays are coming. We have folks coming in from out of town. It's wise at this point. We're not anticipating it's going to be closed for one or two weeks and then open back up. We should think about a strategy for the winter," said Dr. Shad Marvasti, director of public health, prevention and health promotion with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

Dr. Khadijah Breathett, an assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, called the new findings "worrisome," partly because hospital care for these acute cardiac complications should be "fairly regimented and standardized."

The spread of COVID-19 in Arizona is behaving differently than it did in the summer, with spikes happening in rural areas such as Graham and Gila counties that had far fewer cases during the state's first surge. Rural counties such as Gila, Graham, Greenlee and Coconino are leading the statewide resurgence in terms of new case rates, according to Joe Gerald, an associate professor at University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health who has been tracking the pandemic’s spread in Arizona for months.

Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor in the University of Arizona Zuckerman College of Public Health, provides and update in his weekly COVID-19 report.

Continued coverage: Promising results have come out of a new clinical trial at the University of Arizona Health Sciences investigating a personalized cancer vaccine for people with head and neck cancer. The researchers note that it's a very small study and still preliminary work, but their early results are looking good.

Traditional healers, who once played critical roles in governance and health care in the Navajo Nation, are dwindling in number and influence, experts and community leaders say, even as a deadly coronavirus assaults the tribe. Michelle Kahn-John, a professor of nursing at the University of Arizona and secretary of the Diné Hataalii Association, is quoted.