Wednesday, June 24 saw Arizona set a single-day record of reported deaths related to COVID-19, with 79. That brings the total number to 1,463. The Arizona Department of Health Services implied the severity of that jump is mostly a result of a method used to identify COVID-19 deaths, sometimes from weeks before. The cumulative number of coronavirus cases recorded in the state was 59,974. The number of inpatient suspected COVID-19 patients continued its steady climb, with 2,270 for the day before.
Tucson police chief offers resignation amid response to in-custody death
AZPM
Tucson Police Department Chief Chris Magnus offered his resignation to Mayor Regina Romero and the City Council at a news conference Wednesday. Magnus' offer was the latest development in an unfolding story centering on the in-custody death of a Tucson man in April. At the news conference, Romero did not say whether the resignation would be accepted.
The incident only came to the attention of the public this week, and the conference was held amid a growing public reaction the April death of Carlos Ingram-Lopez, 27. Three officers involved had resigned before the completion of an investigation into the event, and TPD said they would have been terminated had they not.
Bighorn Fire continues to burn
Arizona Daily Star
Fire crews expected hot and dry conditions to present a challenge to making progress on containing the Bighorn Fire Wednesday, which had grown to cover nearly 75,000 acres.
The lightning-caused fire has been burning since June 5, and was 33% contained Wednesday.
A fire official said they were working to "stall" the fire in the Sabino Canyon area. Fire lines meant to contain the blaze were expected to mean smokier skies in parts of Tucson.
Tim Reed, deputy incident commander for the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team, said there was much work to be done, but that they were feeling "pretty good" about their progress.
"If we have a good day today, the stage will be set for success."
Read more at Tucson.com
Traveling from Arizona? You'll need to quarantine in these states
AP, AZPM
As Arizona receives national attention for surging case numbers and hospitalizations, travelers from the state will be asked to quarantine in a few states.
New York, Connecticut and New Jersey are asking visitors from states with high coronavirus infection rates to quarantine for 14 days. What was presented Wednesday as a “travel advisory” affects three adjacent Northeastern states that managed to check the spread of the virus this spring as New York City became a hot spot.
Travelers from states including Arizona, Florida and Texas will be affected beginning Thursday. The two-week quarantine will start from the time of last contact within the identified state. The announcement comes as summer travel to beaches, parks and New York City would normally swing into high gear.
'Coming back and biting us': US sees virus resurgence
AP
HOUSTON — A coronavirus resurgence is wiping out two months of progress in the U.S. and sending infections to dire new levels in the South and West.
Administrators and health experts warned Wednesday that politicians and a tired-of-being-cooped-up public are letting a disaster unfold. With 34,700 COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday, the U.S. is back near its late-April peak of 36,400.
While new cases have been declining steadily in early U.S. hot spots such as New York and New Jersey, several other states set single-day case records Tuesday. They include Arizona, California, Mississippi, Nevada and Texas. Some of them also broke hospitalization records.
Virus cases surge among the young, endangering older adults
AP
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Coronavirus infections are climbing rapidly among young Americans in a number of states where bars, stores and restaurants have reopened.
It's a disturbing generational shift that puts young people in greater peril than many realize and poses an even bigger danger to the older people who cross their paths. National figures show that almost as soon as states began reopening, people 18 to 49 years old quickly became the age bracket most likely to be diagnosed with new cases. And although every age group saw an increase in cases during the first week in June, the numbers shot up fastest in the younger age group.
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