COVID-19 cases are peaking in Arizona due to the more contagious omicron variant, with over 27,000 new cases being reported Saturday.Cindy Smith works in the COVID-19 ICU at Valleywise Health and has spent 30 years as a nurse. She says that before the delta variant began spreading in Arizona, there was hope in her hospital.
Their year was not like your year.
Their job put them at the very center of the most disruptive event in our lifetimes – the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are tens of thousands of Arizona nurses, doctors and support staff who risked their lives for their fellow Arizonans.
Many not only served our state but left their families to help the sick and dying in other places aflame with the virus. Many served with the Arizona National Guard.
At the close of one of the most stressful years in memory, we celebrate those who worked in the COVID-19 wards of hospitals and health clinics across this state.