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Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that the state has closed bars, gyms, and movie theaters for 30 days, amid an increase in coronavirus cases.
The state also closed water parks that reopened in May, and Ducey imposed a 50-person limit on meetings both indoors and outdoors.
Arizona announced a daily record total of coronavirus cases on Sunday, with 3,800 people testing positive for Covid-19.
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The daily total has been steadily increasing in the state, since nonessential businesses reopened in mid-May, and Sunday was the seventh time in 10 days that cases have totaled more than 3,000, according to NPR.
“Our numbers continue to rise,” the governor said at a press conference in Phoenix on Monday. “Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse,” he added.
The reopening of schools has been delayed until August 17, and the governor has asked state residents to wear face masks when they go out, but has not made it mandatory.
Mr. Ducey also asked residents to complete any urgent tasks before the order began Monday night and emphasized, “Remember that you are safer at home. If you don’t need to go out, don’t go out. “
There has been an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States in the past month, as most states reopened nonessential businesses.
Florida, California and Texas have also been forced to implement stricter social distancing measures, after recording record daily totals in recent weeks.
Ducey told reporters that the expected expiration date for the new order on July 27 is “aspirational” and depends on the number of cases and hospitalizations, as he is eager to keep the cases under control and get the status out of the blockade. safe way.
“In Arizona, they are going in the wrong direction and we are going to take some additional steps today to contain this virus and get it back to normal,” Ducey said.
According to a monitoring project organized by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 2.6 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the United States. The death toll has reached at least 129,544.
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