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."

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."

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.

Beyond just feeling better and like you can get through the day a little easier (two major wins), finding ways to relieve stress and anxiety is also good for your physical health, says Ester Sternberg, MD, professor of medicine in the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, and research director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

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.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says wearing cloth masks not only keeps people from unknowingly transmitting the virus, it keeps people from inhaling the virus from the air. Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, tweeted, "We know that even fabric masks offer some variable protection for the wearer, but I think the bigger issue is that the CDC has to reiterate this to get people to wear a mask."

A study published in the journal "Nature" suggests reducing restaurant capacity even further to slow down the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Shad Marvasti, with the University of Arizona's College of Medicine, says he is not surprised the study identified restaurants as high risk when they are operating at normal conditions. But he says Arizona leaders should take drastic action to stop the current spike in cases.