PHOENIX – In a letter sent to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Arizona health officials say more needs to be done to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Top doctors and hospital leaders fighting the COVID-19 pandemic of 16 hospitals have joined forces to ask Ducey to “implement proven, enforceable, improved mitigation efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
The letter says the spread of COVID-19 across the country is still serious, and with the new variant of the coronavirus coming to the US, they are seeing an increase in patients being admitted to ICUs.
“It has been made clear that these patients are sicker and that more are dying from the virus,” the doctors said in the letter.
“Our resources are depleted and we are struggling to cope with the continuous waves of new patients we see daily. There are significant concerns that this is having a negative impact on our ability to provide routine and essential care to our patients. This problem “is exacerbated by the fact that there was a lot of mixed messages and misinformation, especially on social media, which confused the public and weakened their confidence in public health,” the letter reads.
The letter calls on Ducey to make the following efforts, “in no particular order of importance:”
- Continue to aggressively expand access to the vaccine.
- Continue to increase staff and help retain staff in Arizona.
- Supports outpatient strategies to reduce the number of patients in need of hospital care.
- Limit public gatherings to a maximum of 25 people, except for essential services.
- Implement a nationwide and enforceable face-covering mandate that focuses on compliance with issues rather than individuals.
- Standardize our school’s approach to virus control so that schools can remain open.
- Follow the test and quarantine guidelines recommended by the CDC.
- The closure of bars and nightclubs and the restriction of restaurant operations to out-and-out services.
For the full letter, click here or read below: