Arizona needs another stay at home order, doctors say
On July 9, physicians across Arizona called on Gov. Doug Ducey to use his executive powers to implement orders requiring all adults to wear masks in public and a statewide stay-at-home that can maximize social distancing.
While we recognize these requests will cause inconvenience to some and real economic hardship to many, as physicians we are even more concerned about what COVID-19 can inflict on Arizona families and small businesses if allowed to ravage communities unchecked.
With 3,300 cases per 1 million, Arizona now has the world’s highest rate of coronavirus infections and the situation is worsening.
Hours after physicians sent our letter to Gov. Ducey, he announced a minor directive to limit dine-in restaurant capacity. Gov. Ducey’s order is the equivalent of facing missile attacks with a flyswatter. It is less than a half-measure and more must be done.
We believe federal and state leaders must take robust, meaningful action to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
In addition to state-level measures Gov. Ducey can take, Arizona’s federal congressional delegation can also act, by passing common-sense legislation. These include expanding Arizonans’ access to health care, such as extending telemedicine coverage for Medicare through 2020, and quickly enacting legislation that will directly support Arizona families and businesses.
Such compassionate legislation should include, but not be limited to, expanded unemployment support, direct payments to businesses and extensive paid leave – all measures that will support the most vulnerable people during a painful yet necessary stay-at-home order.
By acting now, we can still save lives and prevent greater, longer-lasting physical, emotional and economic suffering. We can either do nothing, surrender and allow this pandemic to claim more lives as President Trump would have us do. Or we can use the valuable knowledge we have acquired in the past four months and take the preventative measures we know can reduce
We do not have to accept sickness and death from COVID-19 as a foregone conclusion when we know wearing masks, social distancing and sheltering in place can protect people from this coronavirus.
The epidemiological research is clear: masks can reduce both person-to-person coronavirus transmission at the individual level as well as decrease the rate of community infections overall. Additionally, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people stay at least six feet apart to minimize infections. States that implemented stay-at-home orders saved thousands of lives, research shows.
Arizona’s outbreak is straining health workers’ and local communities’ ability to care for people and keep them safe. Hospitals are running out of ICU beds and critical resources.
The situation is likely to get worse, very quickly. Arizona now has the highest percentage of positive COVID-19 cases in the nation. More than one in every four people who are tested is now infected with the coronavirus. Testing may be up by 12% compared with mid-June, yet positive cases are up 36%, hospitalizations are up 66% and daily deaths are
infections. up 79% percent, according to data collected by the COVID Tracking Project.
Health professionals are running out of the resources we need to save lives. In the wealthiest, most powerful nation on Earth, physicians are making decisions we should never have to, such as who gets ventilators and who doesn’t.
Nursing home staff are running out of protective gear that can keep themselves and their patients safe. Arizona keeps breaking the wrong kinds of infection and hospitalization records every day. More than 2,000 Arizonans have died.
As physicians and medical professionals, we took an oath to do no harm. We therefore cannot sit by and just “live with it,” as President Trump concedes. Wearing masks and implementing a stay-at-home order will reduce harm from the worsening pandemic in Arizona.
We urge Gov. Ducey and our state and federal leaders to protect public health, save lives and take immediate action now.