If you watched announcements made by Banner Health, Maricopa County Public Health and Governor Doug Ducey last week, you may have felt lost on where Arizona is truly headed when it comes to battling COVID-19.
This week has started off the same way, with members of congress using their social media platforms to share information on statewide COVID-19 stats, but others quick to contradict them.
You may ask yourself, who should I believe? Whose information is accurate?
"There’s no reason to pretty it up in a PowerPoint. There’s no reason to make it look good. It is what it is," said Andy Slavitt, the former lead health advisor for the Obama Administration, who says Arizona's spike in cases is concerning.
“The fact that there are infections, the fact that there is case growth is not something that in and of itself and the Governor needs to be embarrassed with, nor is it necessarily a political issue in how you respond,” said Slavitt.
Meanwhile, local leaders are still asking for an opportunity to make decisions for their cities or counties.
The Arizona Border Counties Coalition, including Pima, Cochise, Yuma County and other southern Arizona Mayors sending a letter to Governor Ducey Monday, asking for local control that would allow cities and counties to make health-related decisions and take measures in their jurisdictions, rather than waiting for federal or state guidance to be issued.
A portion the letter reads:
"Thus, the aforementioned Cities and Counties are asking that you provide the necessary authorization for us to mandate the wearing of facemasks whenever our residents are in public or in situations where social proximity cannot be avoided. We hope to be able to deploy this measure by Tuesday of next week."
"They're flying at 50,000 feet," said Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson. "We're flying at 10,000 feet here in the weeds. We hope the Governor would understand that we need local control to do what’s best to stop the spread and to get our economy back on track."
