PHOENIX (AP) – Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday lifted Arizona’s remaining restrictions on curbing coronavirus, banning government mask mandates and allowing bars and nightclubs closed for months to open their doors without restrictions.
The Republican governor cited the increase in vaccination rates and the opening of vaccination appointments for all adults, as well as the decrease in the number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. His decision was welcomed by business interests and Republican officials, and condemned by public health experts and Democrats.
Ducey encouraged the continued use of masks, especially among unvaccinated groups of people. Its latest executive order allows companies to enforce mask mandates and distancing requirements, if they want to, but cities, towns, and counties must eliminate theirs.
Restrictions on meetings of 50 or more people were also lifted, but organizers must “encourage” safety precautions, such as social distancing.
“I am confident that Arizona businesses and citizens will continue to practice the basics and act responsibly as we return to normalcy,” Ducey said in a statement.
The reaction fell in largely partisan lines, with Republican lawmakers and mayors welcoming Ducey’s movement and Democrats calling it premature and politically motivated.
House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican Mesa, called it “the right and responsible decision” in a statement issued by Ducey’s office.
“Better late than never,” Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita wrote on Twitter, pushing for an end to the emergency declaration that empowers Ducey to impose health restrictions. “To all (Arizona) people who have suffered so much during this long closing this year, we’re getting there slowly, but safely.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, said Ducey’s decision “directly contradicts the best scientists in the field.”
“Leaving precautions now is like shooting the ball at the 5-yard line,” Gallego wrote on Twitter. “We know that new variants are circulating. The risk of another rise is real. The governor clearly cares about the people of Arizona far less than their political future. ”
Arizona’s large hospital chains, which crowded into extra beds and expanded their staff to cope with the rise in patients with COVID-19 last summer and winter, said mitigation measures that ended Ducey have worked. They urged people to continue to take precautions.
“A downward trend is not synonymous with virus elimination,” hospital executives said in a statement through Arizona’s Health System Alliance, which represents chains such as Banner, Dignity and HonorHealth.
Ducey resisted pressure to apply for a state mask warrant last year, even as the virus spread rapidly and hospitals were saturated. Eventually, it allowed local governments to need facial coverage, and most did.
Ducey says local mask warrants were rarely enforced; Mayors say they were instrumental in getting people to follow the recommendations of public health experts who said masks are key to limiting the spread of the virus. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said she has no intention of lifting her city’s mask mandate, establishing a potential conflict between the mayor’s power and the governor’s.
Arizona has twice experienced outbreaks that were among the worst in the world at the time, but more recently has experienced a significant improvement in virus metrics. Approximately a quarter of the Arizona population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and approximately 16% are fully inoculated. The two most common vaccine varieties require two doses for complete protection.
Ducey opened vaccine appointments for everyone 16 and older on Monday, but people will be slow to receive their vaccines. Last week, between 40,000 and 60,000 people were shot each week, a mix of first and second dose.
The state reported an additional 138 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the smallest daily increase in more than six months. The state reported an additional 81 cases on Sept. 8, between last summer’s rise and the worst in the fall and winter, when daily case reports reached 17,000.
On Thursday, 32 deaths were recorded, bringing the state’s total pandemic to 16,874.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Arizona’s seven-day averages of new cases and daily deaths in Arizona continued to decline.
The rotating average of new daily cases fell more than half in the past two weeks to just over 500 on Tuesday, while deaths fell nearly a third to 36.6, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Ducey also faced continued pressure for state rejection of a proposed vaccination site run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Tucson area. The decision has angered Southern Arizona officials. The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to urge it to reconsider, a request that was echoed Thursday by the five Democrats in the Arizona U.S. House of Representatives delegation.
Pressured by Tucson reporters Wednesday, Ducey said it would be more efficient for FEMA to give the state the 6,000 daily doses it would have administered.
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Paul Davenport, writer for the Associated Press, wrote.