Arizona reports 7 new coronavirus deaths

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona on Monday reported seven more deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 122.

The number has nearly doubled from 65 a week ago. The latest deaths were in Maricopa, Coconino and Apache counties.

State health officials also reported more than 3,700 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. That was up 163 since Sunday and nearly 1,250 from a week ago.

— Dignity Health, a hospital chain with several locations in Arizona including Chandler Regional and St. Joseph’s near downtown Phoenix, said it’s working with a Tempe-based nonprofit to make 8,500 reusable surgical gowns. The nonprofit, F.A.B.R.I.C., was created to provide resources for emerging fashion designers but is now working to sew the gowns based on a design by Dr. Ronald Gagliano, a Dignity Health surgeon.

An Arizona National Guard KC-135 picked up fabric last week from Precision Fabrics Group, a textile firm in North Carolina.

Government and health officials in Arizona and around the country have scrambled to acquire personal protective equipment for doctors, nurses and other medical staff working with COVID-19 patients.

Dignity Health says the gowns its making can be washed more than 100 times.

— In a bid to help reduce COVID-19 risks in jails, 189 Maricopa County inmates who have already been sentenced were transferred from county jails to state prisons.

Jails are vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus because inmates with compromised health live in closed quarters and can’t practice social distancing. Authorities say lowering the jail population creates space for quarantines if outbreaks were to occur there.

There have been no COVID-19 cases reported among inmates and employees at county jails in Arizona.

— The Recreation Centers of Sun City West closed the retirement community’s seven golf courses on Monday evening over growing concerns of residents and employees getting exposed to the coronavirus. The city shut down all of its recreation centers last month.

“Our average age is 74 and many residents have chronic conditions,” Recreation Centers general manager Bill Schwind told Phoenix TV station KTVK. “We’ve kept golf open as long as we thought it was safe. But with cases in Sun City West increasing and the peak just around the corner, it’s time to close them and let everyone get through this peak safely.”

— Navajo Nation officials reports the number of positive tests for COVID-19 in the vast reservation had reached 813 as of Monday, an increase of 115 over the past two days.

They also said the death total now is 28, an increase of four from Saturday.

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. and spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Also on Monday, Navajo Police reported issuing more than 115 criminal nuisance citations for violations during a 57-hour curfew imposed by tribal health officials last weekend. The curfew began last Friday at 8 p.m. and ended Monday at 5 a.m.

The purpose of the curfew was to restrict the movement of Navajo Nation residents and minimize the growth and spread of COVID-19 in communities. Police officials deemed the operation a success and said the curfew and stay-at-home order remain in effect until further notice.

— Gov. Doug Ducey said on Twitter he’ll work with business leaders, including representatives from the restaurant, retail and tourism sectors, “on plans for an Economic Recovery.” He said his stay-at-home order is in effect through the end of April, and stopping the spread of COVID-19 is the top priority.

“Arizonans’ efforts to physical distance and make responsible choices are working,” Ducey wrote. “It’s critical that we keep those efforts up as we plan for the future and a time when we can begin to return some normalcy to people’s lives.”

Ducey’s tweets did not directly reference President Donald Trump, but they came hours after Trump claimed the authority to decide how and when to reopen the economy after weeks of tough social distancing guidelines aimed at fighting the new coronavirus.