Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered the shutdown of bars, movie theaters, gyms and water parks Monday for at least 30 days because of a surge of coronavirus cases in that state.
“Our expectation is that our numbers next week will be worse,” Ducey said, according to the Associated Press.
Arizona health officials reported 3,858 more confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, the most reported in a single day in the state so far and the seventh time in the last 10 days that daily cases surpassed the 3,000 mark. Since the pandemic began, 74,500 cases and 1,588 deaths stemming from the virus have been reported in Arizona.
Most Arizona bars and nightclubs opened after Ducey’s stay-at-home and business closure orders were allowed to expire in mid-May.
Arizona has seen the worst spread of COVID-19 in the country for at least a week.
On the same day, the governor of Kansas ordered all residents to wear facial coverings to stem the spread of the disease.
On Sunday, California’s governor closed bars in Los Angeles County and six other counties, with the possibility of more restriction added to San Bernardino County because of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in that state.
On Friday, the governor of Texas ordered the closing of bars and restricting occupancy to 50% to all restaurants because of coronavirus surge there.
The virus has infected at least 2.5 million people in the United States and killed more than 126,000.
(Illustration of coronavirus COVID-19 by Prochatai via Flickr)