Does Ducey have guts to shutter state again?

Gov. Doug Ducey folded to public and political pressure and decided to reopen the state.

Will he have the guts to shut it down again if things don’t work out?

For a while Ducey seemed to be dealing with the coronavirus crisis with the kind of self-confidence and independence, perhaps even a little swagger, that set him apart from other Republicans, who simply kowtow to the whims and wishes of President Donald Trump.

Trump spoke with false bluster about reopening the economy, saying, “When somebody’s president of the United States, the authority is total. And that’s the way it’s got to be. It’s total. And the governors know that.”

The governor got a little testy with reporters when he was pressed on Trump’s statement and even showed a little brio, saying, “Well, I’m going to make the best decision for Arizona. So there’s your answer.”

You had a sense at the time that Ducey would be up to the task if Trump posed a more direct challenge to Ducey’s intestinal fortitude.

But, no.

Trump came to town and Ducey announced an relaxation of restrictions. The governor was effusive in his public praise of Trump.

Ducey even said, “We have our arms around our public health emergency.”

This as Arizona’s COVID-19 cases now exceed 11,700, and there are more than 560 known deaths.

Then again, praising the president is the best (and perhaps only) way to

receive praise from the president. While in Arizona Trump said of Ducey, “What a fantastic governor he is.”

Still, as Arizona and other states reopen, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is issuing a warning against the rush to do so.

He told The New York Times, “The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate HLP committee tomorrow is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely.”

He warned that doing so could cause unnecessary deaths.

How do we know about such a danger?

Because it’s already happening in other countries, places that have been dealing with COVID-19 for longer than we have, and have imposed greater restrictions than we have, and have better testing protocols than we have, and better contact tracing than we have, and have taken longer to reopen than we have.

There are sobering examples, now, from places like South Korea, China, Germany and Singapore about the dangers of a second wave of virus.

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, put his concerns this way, “We’re not reopening based

on science. We’re reopening based on politics, ideology and public pressure. And I think it’s going to end badly.” I hope not.

But Arizona is reopening before we’re where we should be with testing and contact tracing, procedures necessary to contain and control any sudden outburst of COVID-19 cases that may occur with the easing of restrictions.

If that happens, if things take a negative turn in Arizona, we’ll have to hope that Ducey gets his groove back.

Assuming he actually had it to begin with.