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AZDHS reported more than 15,000 new cases on Sunday and public health experts expect thousands more cases in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
ARIZONA, USA \u2014 The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 15,850 new COVID-19 cases in Arizona Sunday in addition to 69 more people who lost their lives to the virus.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
RELATED: Arizona has second straight day of 15K+ cases of COVID-19<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n More cases than reported\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The highly transmissible omicron variant is now the dominant strain in Arizona.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n According to TGen\u2019s genome sequencing tracker, omicron makes up more than 86 percent of the genomes sequenced in the state.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Since Friday, AZDHS has reported COVID-19 case counts higher than 14,000 every day.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re infecting a lot of people,\u201d Will Humble, former state health director and current executive director for the Arizona Public Health Association said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a lot higher, by the way, than 15,000.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Humble said between rapid tests taken at home and not reported to the state, people struggling to get tested and people not getting tested, Arizona\u2019s COVID cases are higher than what AZDHS has reported.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Currently, AZDHS is reporting a 66.3% vaccination rate across the state. Humble said he expects those who have not gotten the vaccine will now likely build immunity through getting COVID.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWhat omicron is doing, in my opinion, is compressing six months’ worth of delta infections into about six weeks of omicron infections,\u201d Humble said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n While the omicron variant spreads quickly, studies have led researchers to believe omicron has a shorter incubation than previous variants, meaning people get sicker faster and can cause people to get the virus after having already been infected or fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Humble expects with the number of infections, ripple effects will be seen throughout the workforce from businesses needing to go remote, disruptions in retail and other industries.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cEspecially in the hospital sector you’re gonna see a lot of call-offs and it’s gonna be really challenging to get enough people in to keep the wheels on,\u201d Humble said. \u201cIn schools, I think you\u2019re going to see a lot of breakthrough cases among teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n On Monday, teachers across Arizona are wearing black as they\u2019re concerned over working conditions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing right now is unsustainable. It has been for probably a good year or so,\u201d Katie Nash, president of the Chandler Education Association said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n In an event on social media, the teachers are calling for health measures like masking, ventilation, and testing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe want to be in-person safely,\u201d Nash said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Nash, who teaches Biology in the Chandler Unified School District said it\u2019s been a continual lack of funding of public schools in Arizona, coupled with the pandemic that\u2019s leading to issues now.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cIn Chandler, we have our instructional coaches showing up in our classrooms. We’ve even had our superintendent and assistant superintendents subbing because we just have a crisis level of folks that are out right now,\u201d Nash said. \u201cAnd we don’t anticipate it really getting anybody better, at least for about two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n While omicron appears to be less severe for adults, Humble said he\u2019s anticipating hospitals will still become busier than they already are.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThat doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for the hospitals. They’ve already been in what we call contingency standards of care. That means that they’re changing admission policies, they’re changing discharge policies, they’re adjusting staffing ratios,\u201d Humble said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dignity Health told 12 News in a statement they\u2019ll be allowing staff who have COVID-19 but are asymptomatic or who have improving mild symptoms to come to work without quarantining. A spokesperson described the change as enacting, \u2018the third tier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for COVID-19 positive health care workers.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n