Arizona needs to mask up
The people of Arizona have been returning to some semblance of our old lives for a month now, going out in public, meeting at taverns, dining at restaurants and just spreading our wings.
The psychic release has been exhilarating and the foot traffic restorative to diners and salons that had been shuttered and facing possible collapse.
But roughly two weeks ago, the dials that measure COVID-19 transmission started spinning wildly, and on Tuesday we learned we had broken state records on many important metrics.
Coronavirus is back with
A viral curve that had been leveled with Gov. Doug Ducey’s shelter-athome order is now spiking with a record high 2,392 new COVID-19 cases and 1,506 inpatients. Only a week ago, Ducey was reassuring a skeptical media that Arizona has sufficient ICU bed capacity to deal with the rising numbers.
This week’s soaring statistics tell us the Arizona reboot is going to crash if the people of this state don’t start taking greater responsibility to stop viral transmission.
Gov. Ducey and Department of Health Services Director Cara Christ have avoided hard rules and edicts to try to coax Arizonans to alter their behavior and get through this pandemic with their sanity intact. But the time has come for tougher measures.
Arizona needs to mask up.
New research from Germany shows that mandatory face masks in shops
avengeance. and public transport can spread of COVID-19 by 40%.
There is ample evidence that too many Arizonans are unwilling to wear face masks. Our letters to the editor have been our eyes and ears in public places all over this state, and the news isn’t good. Many of your fellow citizens are appalled at the public-health breaches they witness daily.
Photographic evidence from tavern rows in Scottsdale and Tempe tell us the herds are multiplying without social distancing and face protection. Consequently, on Monday Arizona reached
slash
the record highs for ICU beds in use, ventilators in use and emergency department visits for COVID-19.
Time to get tough, Governor. We need to make face masks compulsory for everyone patronizing businesses, restaurants, salons and the like.
Too many of us are hesitant to wear face masks when so many of our fellow Arizonans refuse to do so. This makes everyone uncertain whether they should or they shouldn’t.
Take the guess work out of it, Governor. Require face masks for all Arizonans engaged in consumer activities.
The people are your partners in managing this pandemic, and we need to raise our game, not just to save the lives of those most vulnerable — the senior citizens and the chronically ill. But also to save our economy.
Business leaders need to get behind a face-mask requirement and encourage all owners and managers to mask up to keep the economy rising.
Forgive us if we don’t fall into the habit of lobbying grenades at the governor and his public-health team. The COVID-19 pandemic may be the most disruptive event in our lifetimes. It’s is a bear too manage, and we’re frankly a little fed up with some of the politically motivated bomb-throwing that seeks to exploit a health emergency to score political points. Those who do that, and they know who they are, are insufferable.
No governor, no president, no chancellor, no prime minister has managed this perfectly. Nor are any of them facing the same problem. COVID-19 presents different challenges based on the places and people affected. For instance, Arizona has had to address widespread infection in one of the most remote places in our nation — the Native American communities of northern Arizona.
Ducey and Christ have worked hard to manage the crisis. They’ve made mistakes. But who wouldn’t? We need to help them by behaving more responsibly to protect ourselves and our fellow Arizonans.
The time has come masks.
to put on
our