COVID-19 hitting some parts of Phoenix harder than others, but why?

PHOENIX - As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, some parts of the Valley are seeing bigger impacts than others, with COVID-19 cases spiking in the Central West Valley.

"I’m nervous about the coronavirus but I’m asking right now because we all live together but I wear a mask everywhere I go," said Maria Ewing, who lives near Encanto Park. The park is part of two of the Valley's three top ZIP Codes for surging coronavirus cases, namely 85007 and 85009.

The area stretching from Downtown Phoenix to 43rd Avenue, and from Thomas Road south to the Salt River are seeing a 10% spike in cases over the past several weeks.

Health officials warned this day would come, but figuring out why some areas are hit harder isn't always easy.

According to former Arizona Health Director Will Humble, the spike could be due to a combination of factors.

"I can tell you it's something to do with increased human activity," said Humble. "It’s far more likely that it’s back to school activities, outdoor events, maybe, even political rallies. I don’t know."

Whatever it is, after eight months of living with the virus, people don’t need to be a doctor - to know what we need to do.

"It only takes one person not wearing a mask, or one person not social distancing to give it to a bunch of people, so I’m hoping to see cases go down but I’m a little worried," said Fallon.

Health officials know people are tired of following guidelines, but they are urging everyone to keep up the effort, in order to keep cases down.