When students go back to school or back to college that puts people in the sort of close quarters ideal for spreading germs.
"There will be increased opportunity for respiratory transmission, both in schools and also in students that are coming back and living in dorms,” Pima County Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen said. “Remember, a dorm is considered a congregate setting, so there's multiple people coming in from all over the country going to live in, you know, fairly close quarters. So we my anticipation is we will see this ongoing increase because of that."
COVID was already having a summer spike because of the way Arizona's extreme heat drives more people indoors.
Cullen said health officials worry other contagious illnesses will make a comeback because more people are resisting vaccines.
"We're trying to overcome that by increasing the amount of education we make available to parents and to adults in terms of when is it appropriate to vaccinate, why you should vaccinate, and to remind people that when we vaccinate, we not only protect ourselves and our own families, but at the end of the day, we're protecting the entire community,” Cullen said.
COVID and flu vaccines have to be updated often because the viruses change so quickly. The updated COVID shots have just been approved. Dr. Cullen says they could be available as soon as early next month
