Arizona COVID-19 cumulative counts, Dec. 14
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Select regional and national coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic as of Wednesday, May 27. For more, visit our resource page.
Immigration advocates: Exposure to COVID-19 higher than reported in ICE detention
AZPM
The La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy has one of the highest COVID-19 caseloads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities nationwide. But civil rights advocates say they believe numbers are even higher.
Margo Cowan is a public defender in Pima County and a lawyer with the legal aid group Keep Tucson Together. She said the organization has helped nine clients get released from detention recently. Three of them have tested positive for COVID-19.
"Every single employee in those facilities should be tested. Every single person detained in those facilities should be tested," she said.
Cowan said most of her clients in detention have not been tested for the coronavirus and don’t know anyone who has. That’s why her group asks people who are released to quarantine at a local shelter and undergo a test while there.
UA continues preparations to bring students back
AZPM
University of Arizona administrators expect students back in class on August 24th. But they are still working to determine what campus will look like.
“We do anticipate requiring people to wear masks at all times when they are indoors, except if they are in their own office or a well-separated workspace of their own,” said UA Provost Liesel Folks.
Administrators are also working on a new app that will allow better contact tracing if a person on campus tests positive for the novel coronavirus.
UA raises 'red flags' by working with conservative PR firm
Arizona Daily Star
University of Arizona President Robert Robbins has become something of a go-to national coronavirus interview, in large part due to a quiet deal brokered by the University of Arizona Foundation with a PR firm involved in conservative causes.
The UA has said the associated media blitz has brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars, though it is not known how much the firm Cavalry LLC, best known for its connection to Republican U.S. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, has been paid. Members of the campus community have criticized the university for a lack of transparency in the matter and for the firm's association with partisan figures and causes.
Read more at Tucson.com
Judge considering whether Arizona must reveal nursing home data
AP
PHOENIX — A judge is set to hear arguments over whether Arizona must publicly reveal the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents of nursing homes.
Wednesday afternoon's hearing comes after the state refused requests from news organizations to make that information public. Lawyers for the state maintain the information is confidential under several laws. The news organizations say the records would help the public evaluate nursing home safety.
A few nursing homes have confirmed to news organizations the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents even though the state isn't providing the information.
Arizona local governments get $440 million for coronavirus
AP
PHOENIX — Arizona cities and counties will get $440 million in federal money to help them deal with budget issues stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced the spending Monday in a discussion with several mayors. The money will come from $1.9 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds that Ducey can spend at his discretion. Local governments saw their costs spike for police and firefighters at the same time that sales tax revenue plummeted as people stayed home to slow the spread of the virus.
State health officials reported 479 additional COVID-19 cases with 24 additional deaths as of Wednesday, increasing the state’s totals to at least 17,262 cases with 831 deaths.
US deaths from coronavirus surpass 100,000 milestone
AP
HARTFORD, Conn. — The U.S. has surpassed a jarring milestone in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths.
That number Wednesday is the best estimate and most assuredly an undercount. But it represents the stark reality that more Americans have died from the virus than from the Vietnam and Korea wars combined. According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the virus has infected more than 5.6 million people worldwide and killed over 350,000.
The U.S. has the most infections and deaths by far. Early on, President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of the coronavirus and predicted the country wouldn’t reach this death toll.
Hermosillo mayor, other Sonoran officials test positive for COVID-19
Fronteras Desk
Over the weekend, Sonoran officials announced that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state had surpassed 1,500 with more than 100 deaths. On top of that, Hermosillo Mayor Célida López confirmed Saturday night that she had tested positive for COVID-19.
"Honestly, I haven't had any symptoms," she said in a virtual news briefing, adding that she had only been tested after contact tracing showed she had been in meetings with other public servants who later tested positive for the virus.
And on Tuesday, Mexican Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell singled out the state of Sonora with a reminder that now is not the time to stop following stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures.
Rocky Point hopes to establish binational 'health corridor' with Arizona
Fronteras Desk
Two years ago, Arizona and neighboring Sonora implemented a safety corridor along the highway to the popular beach destination Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point. Now, that city is looking to collaborate on a so-called “health corridor” to keep tourists safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Rocky Point plans to start letting visitors back into the city on June 16, and Mayor Kiko Munro said the seaside town, known as Arizona’s beach, is already implementing measures to keep tourists and residents safe, including temperature checks, rapid testing and enforcing social distancing and mask-wearing.
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