Arizona COVID-19 cumulative counts, Dec. 14
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Select regional and national coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic as of Wednesday, April 22. For more coverage, visit our resource page. This story may be updated.
Ducey: Hospitals can resume elective surgeries May 1
AZPM, April 22
Gov. Doug Ducey is loosening one of the restrictions he put in place to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The governor announced Wednesday that he's allowing hospitals to resume elective surgeries, starting on May 1. He says a shortage of surgical masks, gowns, and other personal protective equipment has eased.
"Our hospitals and health care experts have told us they've acquired adequate supplies so those elective surgeries that have been delayed or those outpatient surgical centers that can demonstrate capacity can open again May 1st."
However, the governor gave no ground to protesters at the state Capitol calling on him to re-open the state for business. Ducey's stay-at-home order is set to expire next week. The governor says he will decide soon whether to extend all or part of the order past April 30.
UPDATE: Confusion over end of Arizona legislative session
AZPM, April 22
Arizona legislative leaders wanted to adjourn their session on Friday, May 1 and made that announcement Tuesday, only to take it back the next day.
Rank-and-file members in the House opposed the move, which would have effectively killed hundreds of bills left unheard when state lawmakers left the Capitol in March due to the coronavirus.
In order for the Legislature to return, both chambers need to agree on a plan. House Speaker Rusty Bowers has told Senate President Karen Fann that a “substantive majority” of Republicans want to reopen the session to hear bills.
“In the Senate we are continuing discussions with our Members, to determine the best way forward for the Senate and the citizens of Arizona,” Fann wrote in a statement.
No timetable is set for the Legislature’s return. This story was updated Wednesday afternoon.
13 deaths, 28 infected with COVID-19 at Chandler care home
AP, April 22
CHANDLER, Ariz. (AP) — An assisted living facility in Chandler, Arizona, has reported more than a dozen residents have died of coronavirus complications and another 28 residents have tested positive.
Compass Living spokeswoman Amira Fahoum says the Oregon-based parent company confirmed Tuesday that 13 residents have died at Pennington Gardens. Fahoum says nine employees have also tested positive. Five have since recovered.
Facility managers have been working with health officials and primary care physicians to test remaining residents and employees, and most residents have already received testing results. Health officials reported 229 COVID-19 deaths statewide as of Wednesday, the second straight day that the reported number of deaths increased by 21.
Navajo Nation extends closing of tribal government to May 17
AP, April 22
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The closure of the Navajo Nation’s tribal government because of the coronavirus outbreak is being extended into late May.
Tribal President Jonathan Nez on Wednesday announced that he issued an executive order Tuesday extending the closure of government offices and related facilities to May 17 from the previous expiration date of April 26. Nez said there’s a “slight flattening of the curve” but there’s still a need to remain vigilant.
The tribe had reported 1,206 positive COVID-19 cases and 48 known deaths as of Tuesday. However, officials said the numbers don’t include cases for border towns as was being previously reported by the Navajo Epidemiology Center. The tribe''s reservation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
National forests across Arizona impose campfire restrictions
AP, April 22
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — All six national forests around Arizona are imposing campfire restrictions to protect the health and safety of employees and communities during the coronavirus outbreak.
The restrictions were announced Tuesday by U.S. Forest Service officials for the Southwest Region. Officials previously imposed a similar order for national forests in New Mexico. In Arizona, the prohibition applies to the Apache-Sitgreaves, Coconino, Coronado, Kaibab, Prescott and Tonto forests.
The campfire prohibition applies through June 30. Officials say they’re taking the step to prevent the drawdown of fire and medical resources to unwanted human-caused wildfires and to reduce firefighter exposure to COVID-19.
Administration offers plan to cover COVID care for uninsured
AP, April 22
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has come out with a plan to start paying hospitals and doctors who care for uninsured COVID-19 patients.
Expect Democratic lawmakers and health industry groups to press for more help. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says hospitals and doctors would submit their bills directly to the government and they would get paid at Medicare rates.
Uninsured people wouldn't be liable for any of the costs. And health care providers wouldn't have to ask questions about a patient’s immigration status. That's an issue cited as a barrier to care in communities with many foreign-born residents.
As people stay home, Earth turns wilder and cleaner
AP, April 22
Coyotes, pumas and goats are wandering around cities, while air across the world is becoming less polluted.
Scientists are noticing changes to Earth's environment as millions of people stay home because of the new coronavirus. The planet is becoming wilder and cleaner. Air pollution is down 30% in the northeastern U.S. and 49% in Rome. Sea turtles are nesting better without human interference.
Scientists think of this as a grand but unintended experiment that shows how much of a footprint humanity has on the planet.
See photos and read more here.
Poll: Few Americans support easing virus protections
AP, April 22
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new survey finds Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
A majority say it won’t be safe to lift such restrictions anytime soon. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research comes as protests have broken out and some governors have announced plans to ease the public health efforts that have upended daily life.
Only 12% of Americans say measures to fight the outbreak where they live go too far. About twice as many believe the limits don’t go far enough. The majority of Americans — 61% — feel the steps taken to prevent infections in their area are about right.
New virus timeline: California had 2 deaths weeks earlier
AP, April 22
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Health officials say two people infected with the coronavirus in California died as many as three weeks before the U.S. reported its first death from the disease in late February — a gap that underscored shortcomings in the nation’s surveillance system for detecting outbreaks.
The deaths in early and mid-February show that the virus was spreading in California well before officials realized it and that outbreaks were underway in at least two parts of the country at about the same time.
Sonoran coronavirus cases concentrated in border town
Fronteras Desk, April 21
Of the 156 people with confirmed cases of coronavirus in neighboring Sonora, Mexico, on Tuesday, 74 of them were in the town of San Luis Rio Colorado, just south of the border from Yuma. And 32 of those infected were doctors and nurses.
"Only the municipality of San Luis Rio Colorado is in Phase 3," said Sonora Health Department spokesman Gerardo Alvarez, meaning health experts expect to see a rapid increase in cases and hospitalizations in the city.
Florence Project: Six detainees from lawsuit have been released
Fronteras Desk, April 21
The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project recently sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement to force the release of eight people vulnerable to COVID-19.
Most of them have been let go.
The Florence Project and other groups filed the case on April 1, saying ICE had been asked for weeks to release a handful of people held in Arizona with chronic medical conditions.
ICE has been making individual decisions on whether to let out people considered vulnerable to COVID-19.
The Florence Project now says six of the eight people in the lawsuit are out of detention. A spokesperson says the legal aid group believes there is a significant number of people held in Arizona who are extremely vulnerable to the coronavirus. But there’s no reliable data to estimate the total.
At least one group in the Valley has been planning in case ICE chooses to release people by the busload.
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