Ariz. school closures rejected

Governor rebuffs call to mandate distance-only learning

PHOENIX — Despite the state’s surge of coronavirus cases, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Saturday rejected the state’s top education official’s call for him to order public schools to use only distance learning for the next two weeks unless they have waivers from health officials.

“Given the severity of our state’s situation and the virus’s trajectory after the holiday period,” schools need a “two-week quarantine period” for education leaders and local officials to use local health data “to decide the appropriate instruction model for their communities,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman said in a Twitter thread.

Hoffman called for the two-week “quarantine period” for schools after the Department of Health Services on Saturday — the second day of the new year — reported nearly 8,900 additional known COVID-19 cases, giving the state a two-day pandemic high for new cases.

However, Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin said the governor “will not be considering this request or issuing this kind of mandate. This is a local decision. The online option is already available, and the governor has repeatedly made his preference clear: Kids have already lost out on a lot of learning, and he wants schools opened, safely.”

Many Arizona school districts in recent months have provided hybrid learning that includes both distanced and in-person instruction. Many schools are set to resume classes in the coming week after the winter holidays.

Added to the 10,060 COVID-19 cases that the state reported Friday, the 8,883 cases reported Saturday produced a two-day total of 18,943. The state’s previous two-day high was 17,649 on Dec. 13-14.

The statewide overall tally of cases since the pandemic began now stands at 539,150.

Arizona also reported 46 deaths on Saturday, increasing the pandemic’s total to 9,061.

In other developments:

■ Coronavirus hospitalizations fell slightly in Texas on Saturday but remained near their record high, as health officials said there were about 600 intensive-care beds available across the state.

Texas reported 12,319 COVID-19 patients in hospitals Saturday, ending five consecutive days of record-breaking hospitalizations.

■ Health officials in Florida reported a two-day total 30,767 new cases of the coronavirus and 217 new deaths on Saturday.

Florida’s Department of Health did not release numbers on New Year’s Day.

The two-day total brings the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Florida to 1,354,833. The agency posted that 21,015 cases were reported on Friday and 9,752 reported on Saturday. The state’s death toll stands at 22,074.