Gov. Doug Ducey held a virtual town hall meeting Thursday evening to answer the community’s questions regarding Arizona and COVID-19.
Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ, Arizona National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Ruiz were also in attendance to provide further insight.
Rather than a live audience, members of the public submitted questions to the meeting officials in advance. The meeting was monitored by Arizona PBS journalist Ted Simons and journalist Carey Pena.
Ducey began the town hall meeting by prefacing with the current facts of the virus. As of Thursday, he said, there are 1,598 cases and 32 fatalities from the virus. He also thanked the essential workers and first responders for attending to the issue.
But many Arizonans were concerned over the accuracy of these numbers due to the lack of tests, asking how officials were sure about the number of cases if tests are only accessible to those that are considered high risk.
Ducey agreed with the concerns and said, “We need to ramp up our testing.” He added that eventually, everyone who needs a test will receive one.
Ducey and Christ said they believe they took the right precautions at the right times because they were following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and following actions from states with high amounts of cases, like New York, California and Louisiana.
Many residents voiced their concerns over what was considered an “essential service” in Ducey’s stay-at-home order due to hair salons and golf courses appearing on the essentials list.
“You’ve ordered nothing,” Kara Lunneborg, a viewer of the town hall meeting, said. “You’ve done nothing but tell people to decide for themselves.”
Ducey responded by saying, “We focused on shutting down as much as we could in order to slow the spread,” and that the list of essential services is changing every day.
The governor addressed concerns over the lack of enforcement of the stay-at-home order, which he says is not true.
The stay-at-home order is enforceable, he said, and those who do not follow it may face charges, including a $2,500 fine and six months in jail time.
When addressing people who are undocumented, Ducey said it “doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is,” and that viewing peoples’ citizenship status is not a priority at the moment.
Looking at the future of Arizona, Gov. Ducey said they are planning for the worst-case scenario. He said as of now, there are enough hospital beds and ventilators for the projected amount of cases. However, the National Guard is prepared to handle the situation if the state needs more supplies.
Financially 40% of Arizonans are being affected by COVID-19, and “hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced,” Ducey said, adding that the $2 trillion package allows the state to address the surge of unemployment claims and halting evictions.
“Hard-working people who have never asked for help need it now,” Ducey said.
Ducey said he does not know how long the pandemic will last, but that the state of Arizona is prepared to handle it 60 days at a time, currently focusing on the months of April and May.
Contact the reporter at sherdric@asu.edu.
