Coronavirus cases in Arizona climb; Guard to assist stores
Arizona National Guard commander Major Gen. Michael McGuire, Gov. Doug Ducey, center, and Secretary of State Kimberly Yee pack food boxes at St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix Friday, March 20, 2020. The governor called out the Guard to help grocery stores restock shelves and went to the food bank to highlight shortages of donations and volunteers for charity operations triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Bob Christie)
A shopper looks at a cleaned-out toilet paper aisle in a Phoenix Walmart Supercenter Friday, March 20, 2020. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said he's activating the National Guard to help grocery stores and food banks, halting elective surgeries and closing businesses in areas with known cases of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Bob Christie)
Gov. Doug Ducey, left in blue jacket, looks on as Arizona National Guard commander Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire briefs reporters on the Guard's response to the coronavirus crisis at St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix Friday, March 20, 2020 . Ducey ordered the Guard to help grocers restock their shelves after they were depleted by panic buying, and urged people to volunteer and donate to depleted food banks. (AP Photo/Bob Christie)
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, serves meals to school children Thursday, March 19, 2020, outside Sunset Elementary School in Phoenix. With all state schools shut down due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, many districts are continuing their distribution of breakfast and lunch curbside to kids 18 and under. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Arizona governor Doug Ducey, center, talks to Matt Heckard, left, assistant director of preparedness, with the State of Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) as members of DEMA work responding to the coronavirus pandemic, in the DEMA operations center at the Arizona National Guard Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Major General Michael T. McGuire (background right) the director of DEMA, looks on. (David Wallace/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool)
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, serves meals to school children Thursday, March 19, 2020, outside Sunset Elementary School in Phoenix. With all state schools shut down due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, many districts are continuing their distribution of breakfast and lunch curbside to kids 18 and under. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, R, serves meals to school children Thursday, March 19, 2020, outside Sunset Elementary School in Phoenix. With all state schools shut down due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, many districts are continuing their distribution of breakfast and lunch curbside to kids 18 and under. (AP Photo/Matt York)
A sign on the door to American Eagle in The Village inside the Yuma Palms Regional Center states the store is closed until March 28, due to coronavirus and to "Keep Smiling!". (Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP)
Shoppers line up around the corner of the building Thursday morning, March 19, 2020 waiting to get into Sam's Club in the Yuma Palms Regional Center in Yuma, Ariz. (Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP)
Eric Quintana, an employee at Journeys in The Village inside Yuma Palms Regional Center, arrives for work Thursday, March 19, 2020 but not to serve customers but rather to clean the store for it's eventual re-opening once fears over the spread of the coronavirus subside. Journeys is one of several businesses inside the shopping mall that have closed temporarily to help stem the spread of the virus in the United States. (Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP)
PHOENIX (AP) — About 200 members of the Arizona National Guard have been activated to help with food distribution, as daily life becomes increasingly restricted by efforts to contain the coronavirus, officials said Friday. Gov. Doug Ducey also extended school closures, delayed the tax filing deadline and made it easier to file for unemployment.
The head of the National Guard in Arizona, Maj. General Michael McGuire, said the operation is still largely in the planning phase and more guardsmen will probably hit the streets next week. He says there are no worries about civil unrest and the Guard's work is focused on logistics as the food distribution system faces extraordinary demand.
“I'm not at all concerned about civil unrest in the great state of Arizona,” McGuire said. “We're all your neighbors, we're there together, we live in these communities.”
He said the Guard's main mission is to fill gaps in grocery store logistics by helping with distribution using Guard drivers and manpower. He urged people to take available store jobs or seek volunteer opportunities to help.
“Right now, our greatest concern is allaying people's concerns over the fact that we're having this binge buying and the trepidation that builds in the public when the shelves are empty.," McGuire said.“We have the food, we have the supplies, we have the demand. We just have to link the food and supply to the demand.”
The Guard deployment so far represents a tiny portion of the force of more than 8,000 civilian and military personnel. McGuire said he has no plans to activate the Guard's medical personnel because that would pull them out of the civilian health care system.
Gov. Doug Ducey said grocery stores that are normally restocked with two trucks are requiring a dozen truckloads of goods because of the binge buying. He spoke to reporters at St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, where officials said they're seeing near-record levels of demand and a drop in donations amid the need for volunteers.
The Guard activation was one of several decisions Ducey made Thursday as he intensified his response to the virus outbreak under growing pressure to take more assertive action. He also suspended elective surgeries to maintain medical supplies and free up personnel and closed businesses in areas with known cases of COVID-19.
But he said Friday he didn't plan on ordering people in Arizona to stay home, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom did on Thursday.
“I am not,” Ducey said. “I am going to follow the guidance of public health.”
Sick people or those with underlying health conditions should stay at home, he said.
Ducey and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman on Friday extended the statewide school closure for another two weeks until April 10.
Ducey also delayed the April 15 tax deadline until July 15 to mirror a change for federal taxes. And he waived requirements for people to qualify for unemployment insurance, including a one-week waiting period to apply and a requirement to be looking for work. He said workers at businesses closed temporarily, those facing reduced hours and people who have to quarantine or care for a family member with COVID-19 are eligible for state unemployment benefits.
The number of cases statewide jumped Friday to at least 64. A dozen new cases were found in the most populous county of Maricopa. Santa Cruz and Cochise counties saw their first cases.
Dr. Cara M. Christ of the Arizona Department of Health Services said there are about 1,500 to 1,800 known intensive care beds around the state, and her staff is working to identify additional ventilators that may be in specialty care hospitals, surgical centers or elsewhere. The state has requested 5,000 ventilators from the federal government.
“We are always thinking potential worst-case scenario and trying to get the supplies that we need,” Christ said. “We know there are going to be limited supplies, so we’re trying to get them into Arizona before we believe that we could reach peak capacity.”
Navajo Nation health authorities reported 14 cases on the reservation and issued a “shelter in place” order for people in the Chilchinbeto community in northeastern Arizona, where seven of the cases were identified. That could be hard to enforce, however, because the rural community has no local services and residents must leave town to buy supplies. Chilchinbeto is a community of 500 people.
The other seven cases were in the Chinle, Arizona, and Shiprock, New Mexico, areas. Only three of the Navajo Nation cases are reflected in Arizona's official count of 63 cases.
Under Ducey's executive orders, bars, movie theaters and gyms will be required to close and restaurants are restricted to takeout and drive-thru service starting Friday in the nine counties with COVID-19 cases. Those are Cochise, Coconino, Graham, Maricopa, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yavapai counties.
Restaurants will be able to deliver alcoholic beverages with the purchase of food, an effort to limit the huge financial hit that restaurants are facing.
For most people, COVID-19 causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, older adults and people with health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
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This story has been corrected to show McGuire, not Ducey, said the Guard's medical staff were not being activated and to correct spelling of California governor's last name to Newsom instead of Newsome.
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Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca contributed from Flagstaff.