The spread of the novel coronavirus in the Verde Valley reached an unprecedented high phase this past week. The week from Thursday, Oct. 29 through Thursday, Nov. 5 saw the biggest one-week increase in COVID-19 cases in the Verde Valley, with 119 new cases.

This exceeds even the highest spread during the previous spike in late June and early July. Unlike in previous waves, the Verde Valley is also exceeding the Prescott area in new cases, not only per capita but in raw numbers.

The biggest spread has been in Cottonwood, which had 35 new cases in the seven-day period leading up to Nov. 6, with a total of 393 confirmed cases since the begin­ning of the pandemic as of Friday. Camp Verde and Sedona have also seen significant spread, with 27 and 23 new cases respectively in the week leading up to Friday, giving new totals of 237 for Camp Verde and 152 for Sedona. The spread has been somewhat slower in other parts of the Verde Valley outside the larger incorporated municipalities.

In Clarkdale, there was just one new case in the week leading up to Friday, for a total of 77, while in the Village of Oak Creek there were just two, for a total of 41. In Cornville, there have been seven new cases in the past week for a total of 53, while in Rimrock there have been nine for a total of 76. There has been one additional case in the areas classified as “other,” for a total of four since the beginning of the pandemic.

The two-week posi­tivity rate for COVID-19 tests has risen to 8.8%, one of the highest totals since the beginning of the pandemic.

However, while there seem to be more cases of the virus in the area than ever before, the increase in cases has not led to a similar increase in hospitalizations. There have been a total of just five deaths from COVID-19 in the Verde Valley in the past month, bringing the total to 40 for the whole pandemic. At Verde Valley Medical Center, there were eight confirmed COVID-19 related hospitalizations as of Nov. 9, and 11 patients with pending test results. This is the highest total in several months, but still below where the hospital was at the peak of the June and July spike.

“The reason that hospitalizations are lower during this spike in cases is that the cases in the Verde Valley are affecting younger age groups more than our older, more vulnerable age groups,” Yavapai County Community Health Services Director Leslie Horton wrote in an email. “There are some cases among those most vulnerable and living in assisted living sites, but thankfully, our hospital­ization rate has remained somewhat low at Verde Valley Medical Center. When we peaked in cases in June and July, there were many cases linked to outbreaks in assisted living facilities, which quickly caused a higher hospitalization rate.”

“The current admis­sions to our facility with COVID diagnosis still consists mostly of older patients,” Dr. Leon Pontikes, chief medical officer at Verde Valley Medical Center, wrote in an email. “Part of the discrepancy between rising positive tests in the general population not resulting in over­whelming numbers of admissions is likely due to the rising proportion of cases being diagnosed in younger people. They are less likely to require hospital admission.”

However, Horton warns that the county remains concerned about potential increases in the coming days and weeks as the virus continues to spread so quickly throughout the community.

“Generally, we see a higher hospitalization rate two to three weeks after a surge in cases,” Horton wrote. “Our increase in cases only started a little over two weeks ago, and we are still seeing higher rates in cases. Therefore, I expect to see more hospitalizations in the coming days and weeks, but hope that the rate stays low and does not affect the hospitals like the previous surge did in June and July.”

Pontikes said that the hospital, and medical providers everywhere, have become much more effective at fighting the virus when patients are hospitalized, though he continues to warn that the virus remains dangerous and that people should continue to do their best to avoid its spread.

“Nationwide, the treat­ment options for hospi­talized patients have expanded and become more effective,” Pontikes wrote. “Corticosteroids, Remdisivir, anticoagula­tion, improving ventila­tion strategies have all improved outcomes in hospitalized patients. We continue with a weekly shortage of test kits that allow us to run ‘rapid’ tests in house which have a reporting turnaround time of less than 60 minutes. We then have to rely on sending out tests, which take days, up to a week, for results to return.”

“Medical professionals remain in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations on social distancing, masking, hand hygiene and limitations on group gatherings. The compli­ance rate with these guidelines in the Verde Valley [as in the rest of the country] remains quite variable and inconsistent.”