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WARD 6 NEWS RELEASE
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University of Arizona should delay re-opening of Spring Semester |
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The University of Arizona is scheduled to resume classes on January 13th. That means over 30,000 students will be arriving back in Tucson approximately 1 week after the New Year’s celebrations. That is an invitation to disastrous public health impacts on our residents.
The current Pima County Health guidelines call for COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents to be below 100 before we fall below the Substantial Risk category. Today the CDC has Pima County rated at 703 cases per 100,000. Nearly 25% of people being tested are COVID positive. We are right now seeing the post-Thanksgiving surge. Next weekend will be Christmas. The following weekend will be New Year's. Based on the wide-spread behavior we all witnessed over Thanksgiving, there is every reason to expect COVID-19 infections will be at unprecedented levels at precisely the time the UA is inviting thousands of students to re-join us in Tucson. That is irresponsible public policy.
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There are no responsible public health officials recommending people travel during the holidays. And yet, with a January 13th date for reopening campus, the UA is encouraging exactly that for thousands of students. In order to protect the health of students, faculty, staff, and Tucson residents, the UA should immediately inform students that all classes will be conducted virtually until local COVID-19 infections have returned to reasonably safe levels and vaccines are being broadly distributed.
The UA can be a leader in a science-based approach to managing this pandemic. That will take courageous leadership. I stand ready to work with University administration in adopting and implementing such a policy.
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