MOHAVE COUNTY – Some gyms, bars, movie theaters and water related business enterprises shuttered by Governor Doug Ducey’s COVID-19 executive orders can apply to reopen in Mohave County. Department of Public Health Director Denise Burley said that became possible last Thursday morning when the Arizona Department of Health Services reported that Mohave County has enjoyed a two week stretch of less than 10% case positivity.
Burley said the businesses must submit an “attestation” to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) which essentially involves a pledge of commitment to complying with guidelines for operating their establishment.
“With an attestation, indoor gyms can operate at 25% capacity while implementing the ADHS mitigation requirements that are posted on their web page. Indoor theaters, water parks and tubing can operate at 50% occupancy,” Burley said. She said regulations governing the reopening of bars and nightclubs varies and largely depends upon their level of food service.”
Apart from what many perceive to be good news, Burley noted that the county sadly reached the milestone of 200 COVID-19 fatalities. She told supervisors that 2,621 people have recovered from the coronavirus.
The Board was informed that 2,612 case investigations are completed and another 1,002 are in progress.
Burley said results of mass testing conducted at the privately operated state prison in Golden Valley are not yet available. Board Chairman Jean Bishop expressed hope that state officials will allow prison case counts not to be added to county tallies given the potential for high positivity pushing above benchmarks that would require higher levels of restriction and regulation.
Burley said citizens are slowly responding to the opportunity to register for up to 3,000 coronavirus tests that Health and Human Services (HHS) is offering between Sept. 10 and 14 in the primary municipalities. As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, 85 people have signed up for testing in Bullhead City, 52 in Kingman and 35 in Lake Havasu City.
Some feel that the virus is easing up and that mass testing will drive down case positivity, allowing more businesses to operate more freely. Mayor Tom Brady made that point during Tuesday’s Bullhead City council meeting
“Please go and get tested so that we can drive that positivity rating down and we can reopen all of our businesses to a further degree,” Brady said. “Get tested. 1,000 people. I want to see you all out there on the 10thand 12th to get that number low enough that further businesses will be allowed to open.”
- Dave Hawkins