(Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Arizona would not currently be the country’s worst COVID-19 hot spot if state officials were doing a better job of complying with mitigation rules, according to public health expert Dr. Will Humble.
“Companies recognized – especially bars, restaurants and nightclubs – that they could get away with cheating on these measures and not be punished,” said Humble, president of the Arizona Public Health Association and former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. The Mike Broomhead KTAR News 92.3 FM Show on Tuesday.
Humble said the situation had gotten so bad that the only significant life-saving measure the state could take at this point would be to close bars and limit the take-out service.
He said that although thousands of companies are subject to mitigation rules enacted by the state over the summer, the health department has only carried out 15 enforcement actions.
“Are you telling me that this is the significant application of mitigation measures? … I can’t say it clearly enough: if we had done better inspection in these indoor environments, then I wouldn’t be sitting here talking on the radio about the closure of these companies, ”he said.
Humble acknowledged that closing companies could cause economic damage and create additional public health problems, but noted that they helped stem the first wave of the pandemic in July.
He said there is nothing the government can order to combat the spread of the coronavirus that occurs during meetings in private homes, but that is not a reason to do anything more in terms of mitigation.
“In my opinion, what political levers do you really have to make a real difference? he said.
Humble suggested that Governor Doug Ducey could use the stored federal aid funds to help offset the economic impact of the closures.
“But it will take courage to make that call, recognizing that the safety net dollars are there,” he said. “He’s saving that CARES Act money. He’s in the bank. “
Humble questioned whether Ducey and the Director of Health, Dr. Cara Christ, were concerned with slowing the spread of COVID-19 at this stage.
“I think their attitude has been: ‘Look, we are not going to try to mitigate this thing, we are going to try to vaccinate to get out of this,'” he said.
On Tuesday, the health department said about 100,000 of Arizona’s more than 7 million residents received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Low supplies are being rationed for prioritized groups.
Meanwhile, Arizona had the highest per capita rate of coronavirus transmission in the country and the seventh highest death rate from COVID-19 in the past seven days, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
State hospitals are seeing a record number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients, and are on the verge of worsening due to inaction in November and December, Humble said.
“It is not the cases themselves that bother me,” he said. “It is the fact that 7% of them will end up needing to be hospitalized in about seven, eight, nine days,” he said.
“That’s how long it takes after you are diagnosed with the disease before you get sick enough to be hospitalized, and there are … no rooms at the inn. That for me is the most worrying. “