While the novel coronavirus continues to infect thousands around the country, the Verde Valley appears to have avoided a serious outbreak, though a second death in the county was reported on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, April 29, Yavapai County Community Health Services reported ten cases in Cottonwood, nine in Sedona and eight in other parts of the Verde Valley, representing just one new case in the past two weeks, though errors with tabulating cases led to previously reported higher numbers in Sedona.
Yavapai County had a total of 80 cases, representing just six new cases in the past week. Of the 2,321 tests that have been administered in the county, 96.6% have come back negative, suggesting that public health officials are not missing a large number of cases through inadequate testing.
With the state seeing a relatively mild hit from the virus, Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday that the the stay-at-home orders would continue for several more weeks.
Lacking clear direction from the governor, local governments and businesses are trying to figure out what reopening looks like, but uncertainty abounds.
“I think they’re kind of anxious to find out what their restrictions might be,” Camp Verde Town Manager Russ Martin said of local businesses. “We’re kind of at the mercy of the governor’s directives. It’s not open for discussion generally whenever an executive order is laid on. It’s by definition an executive order and you march to it. So we’re just kind of waiting for that.”
Stephen Everett, section manager for communicable diseases at Yavapai County Community Health Services, indicated that from a public health perspective, a reopened economy is still going to have to take massive safety precautions in order to prevent a new outbreak from taking hold — not just the usual personal social distancing precautions such as washing hands, covering coughs and avoiding large groups, but direct efforts by businesses as well.
“Restaurants I’d imagine would have to take out tables so there’s more distance between tables,” Everett said. “Bars would be kind of tricky. Movie theaters, you have to have two seats between you and other persons, or probably three seats.”
“They all want to open and are committed to doing it in the safest way,” a representative of the Verde Valley Regional Economic Development Organization said. “They need to reopen in order to survive — most of them have not received small business funds from the federal government.
“We anticipate that state and local governments will be making decisions in the next couple of weeks on how best to reopen, even though there are still many questions about the spread of the virus and how to contain it. Some of these decisions on reopening our economy will be controversial, but we hope as a region that all who live and work here will stay united as a community. Once businesses start to open, it will very important that all of us support these businesses but do so in a safe way.”
“I can tell you that some of the businesses will be glad to hear [that they are allowed to reopen] and others will not open their doors immediately,” Clarkdale Town Manager Tracie Hlavinka said. “For many businesses, even those that have not had to abide by the most strenuous social distancing requirements, the loss of business during the shutdown has meant it is not economically viable to stay open, even if they are technically allowed to.“
”I’ve talked to several of the businesses,” Hlavinka said. “At the end of the day all they want is a clear guidance as to what it would look like if the executive order to stay at home is lifted. What I do expect we’re going to hear is exactly what the president has said, that it will be in phases. I don’t think it’s like turning on the light switch. I think it is going to come with some restrictions.”
The governor has stated that some hospitals can return to doing elective surgeries now that they are not likely to be overrun by COVID-19 patients.
Nearly all hospitals, including Verde Valley Medical Center, get the majority of their revenues through elective surgeries and preventative care and have been hurting, along with patients, from not being able to provide normal medical procedures.
On a call with reporters on Thursday, April 23, administrators at Northern Arizona Healthcare, which owns both VVMC and the much larger Flagstaff Medical Center, indicated that it will still be a while before the hospital system goes back to normal.
They indicated that with VVMC doing relatively well, it may become a regional hub for necessary surgeries, while allowing FMC to continue to focus on COVID-19, though they also warned that some elective procedures will just not be possible to have done in the short term.
While businesses remain up in the air, municipalities are also looking at ways to start reopening services that they had closed down during the crisis. Martin said that finding a way to get the Camp Verde Community Library up and running for town residents was a major priority. Library Director Kathy Hellman said that the library has developed a plan to reopen that takes into account safety precautions but did not want to confirm its details until next week when the town knows more about the next phase.
“Parks & Recreation, the Rec Center and Library will also be opened in stages,” Cottonwood City Manager Ron Corbin said. “We will not just be opening the doors and back to normal. We will be slow and deliberate with our opening of these buildings. Programing will also be delayed to ensure that we can follow physical distancing rules. Still unknown is when the outdoor pool, youth programing, group exercising, etc., will open.”
