PHOENIX (AP) – Governor Doug Ducey on Thursday lifted Arizona’s remaining restrictions to curb the coronavirus, banning government mask orders and allowing bars and nightclubs closed for months to open its doors unrestricted.
The Republican governor cited the increase in vaccination rates and the opening of vaccination appointments for all adults, as well as a decreasing number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. His decision was well received by business interests and Republican officials, and condemned by public health experts and Democrats.
Ducey encouraged the continued use of masks, especially among groups of unvaccinated people. Its latest executive order allows companies to apply masking mandates and distance requirements if they wish, but cities, towns and counties must suspend theirs.
Restrictions on meetings of 50 or more people have also been lifted, but organizers are obliged to “encourage” security precautions such as social detachment.
“I am confident that Arizona businesses and citizens will continue to practice the fundamentals and act responsibly as we gradually return to normal,” Ducey said in a statement.
The reaction fell on broadly partisan lines, with Republican lawmakers and mayors welcoming Ducey’s action and Democrats calling it premature and politically motivated.
Mayor Rusty Bowers, a Mesa Republican, called it “the right and responsible decision” in a statement released by Ducey’s office.
“Better late than never,” wrote Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita on Twitter, who pushed for an end to the emergency declaration that gives Ducey the power to impose health restrictions. “For all (Arizonese) who have suffered so much during this year, we are getting there slowly, but for sure.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, said Ducey’s decision “directly contradicts the best scientists in the field.”
“Abandoning precautions now is like throwing the ball on the 5-yard line,” wrote Gallego on Twitter. “We know that new variants are circulating. The risk of another outbreak is real. The governor clearly cares much less about the people of Arizona than about his political future. “
Arizona’s large hospital chains, which huddled in extra beds and increased their staff to deal with the increase in COVID-19 patients last summer and winter, said the mitigation measures Ducey ended worked. They urged people to continue taking precautions.
“A downward trend is not synonymous with eliminating the virus,” hospital officials said in a statement via the Arizona Health System Alliance, which represents networks such as Banner, Dignity and HonorHealth.
Ducey resisted pressure to implement a statewide masking mandate last year, even when the virus spread quickly and hospitals were overcrowded. He ended up allowing local governments to demand face coverings, and most did.
Ducey says the mandates of local masks were rarely enforced; mayors say they were instrumental in getting people to comply with the recommendations of public health experts, who said masks were instrumental in limiting the spread of the virus. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said she has no intention of removing the mandate from her city’s mask, creating a potential conflict between the mayor’s power and that of the governor.
Arizona had two outbreaks that were among the worst in the world at the time, but more recently, it has seen a significant improvement in virus metrics. About a quarter of the Arizona population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and about 16% are fully inoculated. The two most common vaccine varieties require two doses for total protection.
On Monday, Ducey opened vaccination appointments for anyone aged 16 and over, but it will take time for people to get the vaccines. About 40,000 to 60,000 people received injections every day of the week last week, a mixture of first and second doses.
The state on Thursday reported 138 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19, the smallest daily increase reported in more than six months. The state reported an additional 81 cases on September 8 in the valley between the peak of last summer and the worst during autumn and winter, when daily case reports reached 17,000.
Another 32 deaths were reported on Thursday, increasing the state’s total pandemic to 16,874.
Arizona’s seven-day continuous averages of new daily cases and daily deaths continued to decline, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The continuous average of new daily cases has dropped by more than half in the past two weeks, to just over 500 on Tuesday, while deaths have dropped by almost a third to 36.6, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Ducey also faced continued pressure on the state’s rejection of a proposed vaccination site administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Tucson area. The decision angered officials in southern Arizona. The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted on Wednesday to urge him to reconsider, a request echoed on Thursday by the five Democrats from the US House delegation in Arizona.
Pressed by reporters from Tucson on Wednesday, Ducey said it would be more efficient for FEMA to give the state the 6,000 doses a day it would have administered.
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Associated Press writer Paul Davenport contributed.