Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Doug Ducey Wednesday issued an Executive Order extending the Enhanced Surveillance Advisory that requires hospitals, testing laboratories and other health care facilities to report detailed information about COVID-19.
To help public health officials and local communities make data-driven decisions to fight the spread of the virus, Arizona’s Enhanced Surveillance Advisory, established by Executive Order 2020-13 in March, requires reporting about COVID-19 cases, health care capacity, and more. Today’s order extends the advisory for 60 days.
“As we see cases spike around the country, containing the spread of COVID-19 remains our top priority and Arizona is on high alert going into the winter months,” said Governor Ducey. “Extending this advisory will continue to provide the public health professionals at the Arizona Department of Health Services with the real-time information they need to make informed decisions and allocate critical resources while keeping the public informed.”
“The Enhanced Surveillance Advisory has been critical to the state’s awareness of and response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic,” said Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ. “It also helps keep Arizonans up-to-date through the ADHS Data Dashboard that we update daily. I’m grateful to our partners from our hospitals, labs, care settings and more for their diligent work to ensure timely information.”
The advisory has required hospitals and health care facilities in Arizona to report daily statistics on staff resources, ventilator availability, intensive care unit (ICU) bed availability, inpatient bed availability, personal protective equipment (PPE) supply levels, medical supply levels, and more. Additionally, testing laboratories will continue to report the results of all COVID-19 tests.
In September, the advisory was expanded to include data on influenza, including positive patients, number of intensive care unit beds and ventilators used by influenza patients, and number of influenza patients seen in emergency departments.
For more information about COVID-19, please visit azhealth.gov/COVID19