Cases 128, 097 | Deaths 2,337 | Diagnostic tests 721,191.
On Tuesday, July 14 the Arizona Department of Health Services reported 4,273 new cases of COVID-19. The department also reported 92 additional deaths from the virus. The current single-day record for deaths due to COVID-19 in Arizona remains 119 deaths. It was set one week ago on Tuesday, July 7.
Arizona COVID-19 cases rise; record hospitalizations seen
AP
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona on Tuesday tallied thousands more confirmed COVID-19 cases as the state again reported an all-time high in hospitalizations because of the coronavirus outbreak. The state reported nearly 4,300 additional cases, increasing the statewide total to just over 128,000. The number of cases could be far higher because many people have not been tested, and some can be infected without feeling sick.
A record 3,517 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized as of Monday, with record numbers in the use of ICU beds and ventilators. Arizona’s death toll from COVID-19 rose to 2,337 with 92 additional deaths reported Tuesday. Arizona became a coronavirus hot spot after Gov. Doug Ducey in May relaxed stay-at-home orders and other restrictions.
State increases testing in Phoenix
AZPM
Health officials plan to boost Arizona’s coronavirus testing with free screenings in two low-income Phoenix neighborhoods. State officials said today the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will test up to 5,000 people per day beginning Friday in South Phoenix and Maryvale.
Both are areas where people have reported hours-long waits in the scorching heat for tests. The surge testing is scheduled to last 12 days. Arizona has the nation’s highest rate of positive coronavirus tests, with more than one in four tests detecting the virus, an indication the state doesn’t have enough testing available.
Arizona today again reported an all-time high in hospitalizations because of the disease.
Despite Supreme Court ruling, DACA slow to be restored
AZPM
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, took effect Monday. The policy gave some 800,000 immigrants brought to the U.S. as children work permits and temporary protection from deportation.
The court's ruling should allow new people to start applying for it again, but so far that’s not what’s happening.
The Trump administration first moved to end the program in 2017, prompting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees the program, to stop accepting new applications from first-time applicants.
The high court’s mandate should have overturned that, but as of July 13, the agency’s website still says new applicants are not accepted.
Tucson immigration lawyer Mo Goldman said the court's ruling mandated the government restore DACA in full and start allowing people who became eligible for the program over the last two years to start the process. He said first-time applicants still can — and will — send in materials and see what happens. But he expects further legal action may be needed if the agency refuses to comply with the court.
Arizona police get millions in military surplus
AZPM
Law enforcement agencies across Arizona have received more than $89 million worth of military surplus in the last 20 years. The inventory of goods ranges from weapons, to vehicles and aircraft, to dustpans and padlocks.
During the recent protests following the death of George Floyd, some said it was hard to tell local police officers from National Guard troops. Some of that is due to what is often referred to as the “militarization” of the police.
“I believe police departments are there to protect and serve, they are not a military organization, so I do see it as a problem, the militarization of police departments across the country,” said Regina Romero, Tucson Mayor.
Law enforcement agencies can apply to get items from the Department of Defense at no cost. The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, like nearly every other law enforcement agency, has been a beneficiary of the program.
We received “all kinds of equipment that we would have to go out and buy in budgets that are already restricted, budgets that are already tight,” said Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels.
Kelly continues to lead McSally in polls
AZPM
Sen. Martha McSally trails her Democratic opponent, Mark Kelly, by nine points in the latest poll from OH Predictive Insights. Three months ago, in the same poll, McSally was trailing Kelly by 13 points.
According to the poll, the issue for McSally is twofold; she has not solidified her base nor attracted independent voters.
“Only four in five Republicans say they would voter for her if the election were held today. Mark Kelly’s base is really strong among Democrats. When you look at those all-important independents in the middle, 2 to 1 they are breaking for Mark Kelly,” said Mike Noble, at OH Predictive Insights.
Noble said in most Arizona races, independents tend to lean towards the Republican candidate.
It should be noted that McSally has Republican primary challengers so she may be able to consolidate her base moving toward the general election in November.
Mars missions prepare to launch
AZPM
The United Arab Emirates will try to join Russia, India, the United States and the European Union as the only countries to successfully send a spacecraft to Mars.
The planned launch of the "Hope" scientific package was set for Tuesday but was postponed because of poor weather. Jim Rice with the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute says the mission aims to achieve orbit around the Red Planet next February.
"There's a little higher success rate there than getting down to the surface," he said. "But to accomplish that and to do that successfully it is a major accomplishment when you can pull something like that off."
Rice adds half of the missions launched to the Red Planet fail. "Those are orbiters, landers, fly-bys, rovers, everything."
The UAE mission is the first of 3 spacecraft set to depart Earth for Mars this month. China plans to launch a Mars package and NASA's "Perseverance" rover is scheduled for liftoff July 30.
Wildfire smoke’s impact on rising temperatures in question
AP
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory say sunlight-absorbing particles in wildfire smoke may contribute less to warming temperatures than previously thought.
They said in a recent paper that as the plume mixes with clean air, its absorbing power and warming effects are reduced. The researchers studied the properties of smoke from a large blaze in Arizona last summer. The chemical, physical and optical properties of ambient aerosol and trace gas concentrations in four large plumes were measured in real time. The team observed intact and more-dispersed plumes that aged more than half a day while traveling 300 miles across New Mexico.
Trump administration rescinds rule on foreign students
AP
BOSTON (AP) — The Trump administration has rescinded a rule that would have required international students to transfer schools or leave the country if their colleges hold classes entirely online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was announced at the start of a hearing in a federal lawsuit in Boston brought by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The announcement brings relief to thousands of foreign students who had been at risk of being deported from the country, along with hundreds of universities that were scrambling to reassess their plans for the fall in light of the policy.
The University of Arizona was among more than 20 schools suing the Trump administration over the policy.
Lawmakers Ask CoreCivic Executive About Eloy Detention Center COVID-19 Outbreaks At Hearing
Fronteras Desk
Top executives for private companies that run immigration detention centers testified before a congressional subcommittee on Monday, and the first question was about COVID-19 outbreaks inside an Arizona facility run by CoreCivic.
The question about the Eloy Detention Center came from the Democratic chairwoman who’d already accused detention contractors of not taking virus outbreaks seriously.
The government has made public the number of detainees with COVID-19 at Eloy. But not CoreCivic workers.
CoreCivic President and CEO Damon Hininger later told Arizona Republican Debbie Lesko that nearly half the staff had tested positive for the virus at some point since the pandemic began. He also said that those who had tested positive were self-isolating and that he thinks the number of infected staff at Eloy is reflective of a “little bit of an uptick” of coronavirus cases in Arizona.
Harassment claims reinstated in ex-prosecutor’s ethics case
AP
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has reinstated sexual harassment allegations in an ethics case against a former prosecutor best known for winning a conviction in the Jodi Arias murder case. The ruling reverses an earlier decision that threw out claims that then-prosecutor Juan Martinez made sexually inappropriate comments to female law clerks at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Martinez also is accused of leaking the identity of a juror in the Arias case to a blogger with whom he was having a sexual relationship. His attorney Donald Wilson Jr. has said much of the harassment case is based on an accuser’s subjective opinion, not on overt actions.
Free mask distribution event planned for Saturday
KGUN9
Mayor Regina Romero and the Tucson City Council have organized a free mask distribution event, scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 18 from 7-10 a.m. There will be a distribution location in each ward in the city. Each location will be organized like a drive-thru and will have 8,000 masks to distribute.
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