Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said Sunday, Dec. 4, that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and had mild symptoms.
The announcement comes as Pima County health officials said we are experiencing high levels of COVID-19 in the community.
In a Facebook post Sunday, Romero said he was following public health recommendations to overcome COVID-19 and would be working from home indefinitely.
“I encourage our community members to take heart and continue to take precautions and wear a mask indoors,” she wrote on her social media accounts.
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Pima County health officials recommend wearing face coverings inside public spaces and also while traveling on public transportation. As of December 1, the average number of COVID-19 cases in the community was 222 cases per 100,000 people, a small decrease from the previous week, with just over 7 percent of hospital beds in the county now occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Community transmission is considered high when cases exceed 200 per 100,000 people.
The positivity rate for the tests performed is also high at 31.4% and local hospitals are dealing with a large number of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases right now.
Free trials in libraries
The Pima County Health Department and Pima County Public Libraries are expanding their COVID-19 testing distribution program, which now includes all open libraries in the county, the county said in a news release.
The county had already distributed take-home test kits to 12 libraries since early September. About 52,000 tests have been distributed from those libraries so far.
“Expanding our distribution of free COVID-19 test kits is a vital part of our efforts to connect people with public health information and resources,” said Michelle Simon, deputy director of support services at the library.
The health department recommends having two tests for each family member. Test kits are available at tables within each of the county’s 26 open libraries or at the service counter.
