By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday announced a "blitz'' to test up to 60,000 Arizonans in the next three weekends to better determine how many Arizonans are infected with COVID-19.
The goal is to test from 10,000 to 20,000 people each Saturday, beginning this weekend, through various drive-thru and on-site testing locations.
For the moment, those are limited to Banner Health facilities in Tucson, Phoenix, Peoria, Gilbert and Mesa, along with a Walgreens in the 10300 block of East Broadway and one on Dysart Road in El Mirage. State health officials are reaching out to others interested in participating to contact them.
The move comes as Ducey has to decide this week whether his executive orders limiting individual and business activity due to the pandemic are worth the continued harm to the Arizona economy.
That harm has taken the form of another 52,350 this past week applying for first-time unemployment benefits. That now puts the number of Arizonans who have lost their jobs as a result of the virus and the governor's orders in excess of 470,000.
There are signs, however, that the fever may be breaking: The Department of Health Services said there were no new deaths reported Monday, the first time that has happened in more than a month.
But it still leaves questions about how extensive is the virus in Arizona and whether, without comprehensive data, it is premature to reopen segments of the state economy.
The health department reported Monday another 1,732 people had been tested. That brings the overall tally in the state to 66,543.
That is just 0.9 percent of the total population. Kaiser Family Foundation finds only Virginia with a per capita testing rate as low.
There have been some moves to improve that, even before Monday's "blitz'' announcement, including an order from state Health Director Cara Christ last week allowing those who believe they have been exposed to COVID-19 to get tested.
"Arizona has placed an emphasis on ramping up testing, but we need more,'' the governor said in a prepared statement. He said that expanded testing will "provide us with better data to develop Arzona specific solutions and re-energize our economy.''
But gubernatorial press aide Patrick Ptak said Ducey's decision will be based on more than just test results.
"Other data is also important, like whether our hospitals are prepared,'' he said. And Arizona got some good news, with the health department saying Monday was the first day in more than a month that no COVID-19 deaths were reported.
All that comes at the governor has to act on his month-old stay-at-home order telling people they cannot go out unless they are engaged in an essential activity. That edict self-destructs at midnight Thursday night unless renewed.
Given Ducey's cautious approach to enacting the order in the first place -- at least two dozen other governors had acted before Arizona's March 31 implementation -- it is unlikely he would allow it to simply expire. Instead Ducey has indicated the expectation is for a gradual loosening, perhaps tied to some advisories about social distancing.
And it won't matter much, at least to the Arizona economy, unless Ducey also alters his list of what are "essential'' business and services -- and the more important list of what are not and must remain shuttered. There is no deadline for Ducey to act as that order on essential businesses remains in effect until he alters or rescinds it.
The governor's orders already permit people to go out to shop at essential businesses. So easing his order to let people go out won't mean anything if there's no new places for them to go, whether to shop, dine, drink or even have a picnic in the park.
But here, too, the governor was slow and deliberate about deciding what can remain open, even to the point of initially concluding that barber shops, hair salons, spas and tattoo parlors were essential until he finally acknowledged that there was no reasonable way to maintain social distance.
A similar loosening is likely to be in a stepped approach, providing additional opportunities for people to shop -- with some controls.
That's exactly the course being urged by Glenn Hamer, chief executive of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a close political ally.
"As we thaw out parts of the economy that have been frozen, we need to do that safely,'' he said. That starts with opening up smaller retail operations with "appropriate social distancing'' and other safety protocols.
But all that is too slow for some Arizonans who want Ducey to immediately scrap both his stay-at-home and essential services orders.
Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, said he does not dispute that the orders -- fewer infections and "flattening the curve'' to preserve hospital beds -- appear to have worked.
"The question is, to what extent?'' he told Capitol Media Services after a rally last week.
"How long do we wait to get our economy back?'' Farnsworth continued. "I think the majority of the people down here feel like the time has come, that the main point of danger has passed, that it's time to reopen.''
Hamer said the bottom line -- and the message he wants the governor to have -- is that businesses want to reopen.
"Arizonans want to work,'' he said.
"We want to see people go back to work,'' Hamer continued. "And we want to see our economy fully restored.''
Still, he said, it has to be done in a prudent and safe fashion.
"And it's going to be done in phases,'' Hamer said.
He said there are models out that that work.
"Protocols are going to have to be in place that limit traffic,'' Hamer said.
That's already being done in many grocery, home improvement and department stores, with a new customer being let in when one leaves. And he said that's even more important as the rules for who can open are broadened.
"We can't have a gazillion people in a small store when you have a pandemic without effective therapeutics and good treatment,'' Hamer said. And he said there are likely to be other mandates and suggestions, ranging from sheets of plastic separating customers from cashiers to tape lines on the floor marking social distance for those waiting in line.
All this presumes that even if Ducey loosens the restrictions that Arizonans will be willing to foray out.
"Consumer confidence is the $64,000 question,'' Hamer conceded. "It's very important for the governor's actions to continue to be consistent with the comfort level of the citizens.''
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On Twitter: @azcapmedia
Banner sites:
1826 W. McDowell Road, Phoenix
7007 W. Happy Valley Road, Peoria
965 E. Germann Road, Gilbert
525 W. Brown Road, Mesa
265 W. Ina Road, Tucson
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