JUST IN: Arizona Stay-at-Home Order Extended Through May 15th
Richard Moorhead
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Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that he would extend the state’s stay at home state of emergency order during a press conference Wednesday, explaining that reopening everything immediately would jeopardize the progress the state has made thus far in containing the coronavirus epidemic.
The state’s stay-at-home order had been originally slated to expire on May 1st, but Ducey’s extension will keep it in place until May 15th.
“We do not want to lose the ground that we have gained,” explained the governor. “I want to get back to where we were as much as anybody in the state. But I want to do it in a safe and healthy way.”
Some phased reopening of retail and commercial activity is slated within the extended duration of the stay at home order. Curbside pickup for some businesses will be allowed as of May 4th, and an additional tier of commercial activity will be permitted as of May 8th.
BREAKING: Partial reopening of retail beginning May 4.
Starts with curbside pickup and delivery.
4 days later partial reopen loosens. pic.twitter.com/g7zXhIlWRz
— Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) April 29, 2020
Dining services for sit-down restaurants will begin in a limited capacity as of May 12th.
Ducey stated that it would be irresponsible for him to permit reopenings of businesses in a fashion that could potentially increase the severity of the epidemic, stating that he’d have to institute restrictive measures in such a situation that would prove even more economically devastating than the initial coronavirus recession and emergency order.
Arizona has incurred 304 deaths from the coronavirus as of Wednesday. The Navajo nation in the northern sector of the state has been the hardest-hit community by the disease.
“It’s fifteen more days… I’m asking for some patience.“
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