Ducey Says Arizona Will Keep Reopening Despite Coronavirus Surge

PHOENIX — Gov. Doug Ducey defended his plan to reopen the state Thursday, attributing concerns about the stark increase in the number of positive cases to misinformation and increased testing.

“We put the stay-at-home order in place so that we can prepare for what we’re going through right now,” he told reporters at a news conference.

The rise in Arizona COVID-19 cases has piqued concern from national experts, drawing attention to the growing infection rate and uptick in hospitalizations. The increase in cases comes just a few weeks after Ducey lifted stay-at-home orders on May 15 and Arizonans flocked to Memorial Day events across the state.

“It’s important that people know we are not seeing an increase in patient volume, we are prepared if that increase should come,” Ducey said. “The facts are, we got an increase in testing, an increase in testing and an increase in positive test results. So we’re going to continue to stay laser-focused on COVID-19.”

According to data from the COVID-19 Tracking Project, Arizona and South Carolina are the two states that “appear to have the most dire situations right now.”

Ducey pointed to a large increase in testing as an explanation for the climbing numbers. Even so, less than 6% of Arizona’s 7.2 million residents have been tested to date.

In an interview Wednesday with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, raised concerns about Arizona and more than a dozen other states.

“We’re seeing a lot more cases, especially in states like Arizona where the numbers are really scary,” Jha said, adding that those who believe the summer heat will reduce cases are engaging in “wishful thinking.”

Still, Ducey assured Arizonans that hospital capacity is adequate and the state is prepared to “expect the worst” with sufficient numbers of ventilators and hospital beds.

As of Thursday, June 11, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 31,264 cases of COVID-19 and 1,127 deaths in the state. It said 429,327 tests for COVID-19 have been completed in public and private labs in Arizona, and 7.3% of tests have come back positive for the virus.

The number of occupied intensive care unit beds also has reached a record high since data collection began March 26, with only 22% of ICU beds available in Arizona as of Thursday, according to ADHS. Hospitals, including Banner Health, the state’s largest, told Cronkite News that they already are at full capacity and need to defer patients to other hospitals.

Dr. Daniel Derksen, a professor of health studies at the University of Arizona, said the rise in hospitalizations and cases is “almost certainly” influenced by lifting the stay-at-home order.