In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and in response to concerns for the health and safety of the community, court staff and the judiciary, Pima County Presiding Judge Kyle A. Bryson provided a series of directives for court operations—including the suspension of jury duty through the end of the month.

Arizona courts remain open, and Bryson instituted a series of precautions to reduce the number of visitors to courthouses in Pima County.

In addition to the suspension of jury duty, attorneys can work remotely, sick individuals are asked to not attend any hearings in person or reschedule, juvenile court and services will move to telephone only and family drug court is suspended through March 31.

Court Appointed Special Advocates have also been asked to call their supervisors, and anyone scheduled to meet with a pretrial service officer should call (520) 724-3310. Adults on probation should call the Adult Probation Office.

If the outbreak warrants court closure, updated information will be provided by the Superior/Juvenile courts.

Pima Community College shut down all of its campuses, centers and its district office beginning Tuesday morning after a potential exposure to COVID-19.

Announced late Monday evening, the closure comes after “a member of the college community may have been exposed to someone recently tested for COVID-19.”

Pima is working with the Pima County Health Department to assess to situation, and plans to announce an update by end of day Tuesday, March 17.

“We will consider the health and safety of our students, employees and the community with every decision,” said Pima Chancellor Lee Lambert in a memo to college employees.

Pima previously announced a suspension of face-to-face services on all its campuses, and made the decision to move to virtual instruction March 25, after spring break ends. Additionally, college employees who can work from home have been asked to do so.

The college also announced a delay for summer registration, cancellation of all non-essential events through April 30, and a limit on employee travel.

While in the middle of announcing the decision to keep KIDCO open, Mayor Regina Romero was interrupted by Councilman Paul Cunningham, who announced that the city's youth program that provides after-school and summer recreation programs has been shut down due to a lack of sanitation products.

"We just got information right now that KIDCO sites are going to close," Cunningham said. "They've run out of hand sanitizer. We can't in good conscience keep them open if we can't keep (the KIDCO sites) properly sanitized."

Cunningham noted the council "was going back to go back to the drawing board" to find another solution to the Tucson's mounting daycare problem. On Sunday, Gov. Doug Ducey ordered all schools shut down at least through Friday, March 27. In the meantime, the councilman suggested trying to find a neighbor willing to help out. Like many parents with young children, Cunningham himself is facing a challenge in finding daycare for his children.

"The daycare center for my 3-year-old was open on Sunday and then we got an email (Monday) saying it's closed," Cunningham said. "A lot of families are going through that and we're going to find a way to come together. I encourage people to go to their neighbors and try to do some kid-sharing."

Andy Squire, public information officer for the City of Tucson, confirmed the city was, in fact, out of sanitization and cleaning products at KIDCO spring break camps through the city. He said City Manager Michael Ortega held an emergency meeting to weigh the city's options. A decision has not been made whether the closure of the after-school program will continue as long as schools themselves are closed.

"We are stoping the Schoolzout program for now until such time as we can obtain such cleaning supplies to reopen and/or shut the centers down," Squire said. "This is a real tough situation to be in because this is a council that is committed to ensuring that our families have a place to take their kids."





 

The phone bank will feature representatives from the Pima Council on Aging, the Community Food Bank, Sun Tran, Tucson Medical Center, Tucson Unified School District and the University of Arizona to provide information to the public.

Many stores are altering their hours or having delays in delivery times in response to COVID-19 in order to keep up with cleanliness standards and inventory needs.

Below are some of the affected stores. Click on the links for more information associated with each below as they're subject to change:

Walmart - Hours are reduced 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sam's Club - Hours are changed to 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours remain unchanged.

Albertsons and Safeway - Fulfillment of delivery orders may be affected due to stock. Check your local store for hours, but most should remain unchanged.

Whole Foods - Increased sanitation methods and other changes are noted. Check your local store for hours, but most should remain unchanged.

Trader Joe's - Hours are reduced to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Kroger Owned Properties - Several adjustments to hours for different stores including Fry's (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.).

Heirloom Farmers Markets - Precautions are being taken to keep vendors and the public safe. Check your local location.

Picture Rocks Farmers and Flea - Postponed at least until April 4th, when events will be reexamined.

Sprouts and Costco have not announced any changes, but that may differ from store to store. Johnny Gibson's in Downtown Tucson also appears to be staying open for the time being.

A fourth presumptive case of COVID-19 is confirmed in Pima County this morning, according to a release from Pima County Health Department and the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System. The latest case is a veteran who was hospitalized and tested on Saturday at the Veterans Affairs Health Care System on South Sixth Avenue.

"A Veteran inpatient presumptively tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 14 at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System," according to the SAVAHCS press release. "The risk of transmission to other patients and staff is low, as the Veteran is being cared for in respiratory isolation by staff who are specially trained on the Centers for Disease Control treatment guidelines, including the use of personal protective equipment and infection control techniques."

This is the second case in Pima County discovered by independent lab testing.

The number of presumptive cases in the state that have been discovered through private lab testing jumped from one to six cases in the past 24 hours. Maricopa County saw their numbers double from four cases to eight cases overnight, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services website.  The total confirmed and/or presumptive cases in the state rose from 12 cases to 18 cases by Monday morning.

We'll continue monitoring the situation and update when more information becomes available. 

On Sunday afternoon, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman announced the closure of all public schools in the state beginning Monday, March 16 and lasting through the end of the month.

The superintendent of Tucson’s largest school district, Gabriel Trujillo, fully supports the decision.

Trujillo, who helms Tucson Unified School District, told The Weekly his staff has worked since February to develop a cross-department plan to handle foodservice, online instruction, transportation “and a host of other areas” in the case of a shutdown.

The district will provide details on its plan at a Wednesday, March 18 governing board meeting at which time they will take formal action to close the district and act on a number of recommendations made by Ducey and Hoffman.

“We feel fully prepared,” Trujillo says.

Among the district’s preparations, Trujillo says they will continue to provide food services and move to provide online learning for as many students as possible. However, TUSD cannot provide digital devices for all of its students.

“Unfortunately we’re not going to be able to provide virtual instruction to all 45,000 students,” Trujillo says. “What you'll see in our contingency plan, you will see that we are fully capable of providing a virtual learning environment for a certain segment of our student body as a whole.”

The superintendent said that his No. 1 recommendation to parents right now is to use Spring Break, which begins tomorrow, to plan for childcare needs. The district’s website and social media accounts will also post information regarding childcare assistance options.

In addition to planning for childcare, Trujillo asked that parents, students, and staff make sure to take the five precautionary measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Pima County Department of Health:

Wash your hands frequently, for at least 20 seconds
Maintain social distance
Avoid touching your face
Stay home if you’re feeling sick and seek medical attention
Limit exposure to large crowds

“I think the more that our parents communicate these effective measures to their children, the more effective we can be as a community in combating and defending Pima County against the Coronavirus,” Trujillo says.

In terms of funding, the district’s revenues are guaranteed because the 100-day period has passed, locking in the budget for the year. That means salaried employees will receive their pay through the academic year.

Trujillo said the district is waiting on further details from the state to provide emergency funding for hourly staff.

While local theaters such as The Loft are limiting tickets and canceling events, national theaters are doing the same.

Currently, there is a large banner at the top of the AMC website with a special message. They stress:

LIMITING SEAT CAPACITY IN EVERY AMC AUDITORIUM

To give you more empty space around you within our theatres, we are capping ticket availability to 50% of the normal seating capacity for every showtime in every auditorium at all AMC theatres nationwide. Once we hit 50% of an auditorium’s capacity, movie screenings will show as being Sold Out, even though by definition there will be a large number of unfilled seats. This will begin Saturday, March 14, and for now, will continue until April 30.
For those AMC auditoriums with more than 500 seats, we will further reduce bookings to a maximum of 250 people in any case.
And, it goes without saying that AMC is actively complying with all current and future federal, state and local authorities’ directives on social gathering.

ENHANCED THEATRE CLEANING

AMC theatre teams are following AMC’s stringent health and safety cleaning protocols, which include that every auditorium is thoroughly cleaned between each and every showtime.
In addition, AMC has instituted enhanced cleaning protocols, which ensure that at least once per hour within an AMC building, the theatre team is cleaning high-touch point areas, including: kiosks, counter tops, restroom areas, glass, handrails and doorknobs.

GUIDANCE FOR GUESTS AND THEATRE STAFF

AMC has mandated that any theatre associate who feels ill is excused from work and should not come to the theatre. We urge all potential guests to stay at home and seek medical assistance if they are not feeling well.

Harkins also has a banner to learn more on their own site. They have very similar heightened protocols including:

• Regularly and continually sanitizing touchpoint areas and surfaces (seats, door handles, counters, dispensers, touch screens, railings, etc.)
• Making available alcohol-based hand sanitizer for our guests and team members
• Existing use of motion-sensor restroom equipment that requires no physical touch
• Educating and monitoring our employees regarding the recognition of respiratory symptoms in our guests and our team members, to ensure those with symptoms stay home to get well
• Ensuring preventative measures with our teams such as social distancing, hand washing, respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette
• Reducing the amount of sellable seats in some theaters to allow for more distance between guests
• Continuing to honor our loyalty cup refills, but providing a substitute disposable paper cup as a temporary measure
• Temporarily reducing the price of all popcorn and drink sizes by $1, and discontinuing refills on large sizes
  

Both companies are following guidelines put forth from the WHO and CDC regarding social distancing, a term that we will very quickly become very familiar with.

The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance on Friday announced that several of its upcoming events have been postponed, while others are still going on as scheduled.

“We understand that you may be contemplating whether to attend arts events, performances and community activities at this time,” stated SAACA Executive Director Kate Marquez. “The health and safety of artists, audiences, staff and volunteers is our top priority, and we are carefully reviewing updates to determine our course of action during this time. As many of you know, SAACA has one of the most robust and diverse calendars of annual events and programs in the state, including weekly concerts, festivals, celebrations, classes and programs all running simultaneously.

The Sahuarita Creative Arts Festival, scheduled for this weekend, has been postponed.

The Oro Valley Festival of the Arts, scheduled for March 28 and 29 at the Oro Valley Marketplace, is scheduled to move forward with structural changes “to continually ensure public safety.” Sabrosita Sahuarita, scheduled for April 24, is also expected to move forward as scheduled.



The following upcoming events at the Catalyst Collaborative Arts & Maker Space are postponed:

· Homebuying 101 (March 14)

· AARP HealthRhythms (March 14)

· Beyond Bamba: Israeli Cooking (March 18)

· Make Way for Books Story School (March 18 and 25)

· Eat Plants: A nutrition class (March 21)

The following events are scheduled to take place as scheduled at Catalyst:

· Second Saturday Artisan Market (March 14)

· Beginning Native American Flute (March 14)

· Introduction to Basic Soldering with Xerocraft (March 19)

· WRITE ON: Creative Writing (March 19 and 26

· Don Zavis Sales Training (March 20 and 27)

· Introduction to Scratchboard (March 21)

· $5 Lucky Cat Kid’s Crafting Drop-In (March 21)

· Understanding Family Dynamics (March 21)

· CoderDojo meetup (March 25)

· Mr. Boogie Woogie Concert (March 26)

· Amerind: Contemporary Southwestern Native American Textiles (March 27)

· Glass Plate Making with Sonoran Glass School (March 28)

· French Macaron 101 with Snack Monster (March 28)

· Camera Phone Photography (March 28)

In light of spreading fears over COVID-19, the Humane Society of Southern Arizona is reminding area residents that its shelter will continue with normal operations.

“We have many wonderful pets looking for their loving forever homes,” HSSA stated in a release.

While the shelter remains open, the Humane Society did announce that its Puttin’ On The Dog fundraiser has been postponed to Oct. 10. The event was originally scheduled to take place April 18. The Raising Cane’s fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, March 14 has been cancelled by the restaurant.

Education and outreach programs like rattlesnake avoidance training will continue as scheduled.

The Humane Society also stressed that high-grade disinfectants are used throughout the shelter, and high contact areas are “deep cleansed” daily.

“It's important to know that there have not been any cases of dogs or cats becoming sick from COVID-19,” said HSSA CDO Steve Farley, in a statement. “There is also no evidence of people catching the virus from companion animals. However, as a rule of thumb, it's always a good idea to wash your hands after being around animals. We are grateful for your strong support. But if you are sick, with symptoms of a respiratory disease and/or a fever of 100 degrees or higher, please do not visit the shelter at this time.